UC-NRLF 


Marketing  Survey  of  New  Haven 


Conducted  for  the 

Town  and  City  Improvement  Committee  of  the 
New  Haven  Chamber  ui  Commerce 

BY 

L.  D.  H.  WELD 

Professor  of  Business  Administration 

Sheffield  Scientific  School 

Yale  University 


HI)    V.Y 


BADGER,  H.  A.  BRANDT,  J.  D.  IT  A\D  H.  B.  PRICE 

Graduate  Students  in  Economics,  Yale  University 


GIFT  OF 


arketing  Survey  of  New  Haven 


Conducted  for  the 

Town  and  City  Improvement  Committee  of  the 
New  Haven  Chamber  of  Commerce 

BY 

L.  D.  H.  WELD 
M 

Professor  of  Business  Administration 

Sheffield  Scientific  School 

Yale  University 


ASSISTED    BY 


|R.  E.  BADGER,  H.  A.  BRANDT,  J.  D.  HAUSLEIN,  AND  H.  B.  PRICE 
Graduate  Students  in  Economics,  Yale  University 


INTRODUCTION 

For  several  years  the  citizens  of  New  Haven  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
certain  features  of  the  marketing  system  of  the  city,  and  there  has  been 
constant  agitation  for  some  kind  of  reform.  Numerous  attempts  have  been 
made  to  bring  action  with  respect  to  the  organization  and  maintenance  of 
a  public  market  for  farmers,  but  such  attempts  have  always  come  to  naught. 

One  difficulty  in  the  problem  has  been  that  the  people  of  New  Haven 
have  not  had  an  unanimous  opinion  as  to  just  what  ought  to  be  done.  Some 
have  favored  a  public  wholesale  market  for  farmers;  others  have  believed 
that  a  retail  farmers'  market  should  be  established;  and  still  another  group 
have  believed  that  the  principal  need  is  a  public  retail  market  where  spaces 
shall  be  rented  to  retail  merchants.  In  view  of  this  difference  of  opinion, 
and  the  need  of  centering  on  the  most  important  phase  of  the  problem,  the 
Town  and  City  Improvement  Committee  of  the  New  Haven  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  which  has  taken  the  matter  up,  decided  to  make  a  survey  of 
marketing  conditions  in  New  Haven,  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  just  what 
should  be  done,  and  with  the  hope  that  a  method  of  procedure  resulting  from 
such  an  investigation  would  result  in  definite  action.  The  results  of  this 
investigation  are  presented  in  this  report. 

This  survey  of  marketing  methods  and  conditions  in  New  Haven  does  not 
pretend  to  represent  a  complete  and  thorough  study  of  the  situation. 
Enough  material  has  been  gathered,  however,  to  point  out  New  Haven's 
principal  need.  As  a  perusal  of  the  report  will  show,  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding the  farmers'  wholesale  market  in  Commerce  Street  are  decidedly 
unsatisfactory,  and  the  evidence  is  overwhelming  that  the  greatest  need  is 
to  have  a  properly  organized  and  operated  wholesale  market  for  farmers. 
If  this  report  succeeds  in  crystallizing  public  opinion  on  this  point,  and 
leads  to  prompt  and  definite  action  in  this  direction,  the  men  who  have 
given  their  time  in  making  the  study  will  feel  amply  repaid,  and  the  New 
Haven  Chamber  of  Commerce  will  have  performed  an  important  service. 
Yale  University  will  also  feel  gratified  if  it  has  been  of  service  to  New 
Haven  through  the  cooperation  with  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  making 
this  survey. 

The  editor  of  this  report,  who  planned  and  supervised  the  survey,  has  had 
the  able  assistance  of  four  graduate  students  in  Yale  University,  who  are 
specializing  in  marketing  subjects.  These  men  are  R.  E.  Badger,  H.  A. 
Brandt,  J.  D.  Hauslein,  and  H.  B.  Price.  To  them  belongs  a  large  part  of 
the  credit  for  the  gathering  of  the  valuable  and  interesting  information 
contained  in  the  report.  The  cooperation  of  the  New  Haven  Housewives' 
League  has  also  been  of  value,  inasmuch  as  this  organization  gathered 
information  on  buying  methods  of  about  150  New  Haven  housewives.  The 
courtesy  of  New  Haven  merchants  in  giving  freely  information  which  was 
of  a  confidential  nature,  also  is  acknowledged. 

L.  D.  H.  WELD, 

Professor  of  Business  Administration, 
Sheffield  Scientific  School,  Yale  University. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 2 

CHAPTER  I 
The  Wholesale  Fruit  and  Produce  Trade    4 

CHAPTER  II 
New  Haven  Retail  Stores   7 

CHAPTER  III 
The   Truck  Growers 10 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Commerce  Street  Market  and  Farmers'  Markets  in  Other  Cities  . .     13 

CHAPTER  V . 
The  Marketing  of  Butter  and  Eggs  in  New  Haven  18 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Marketing  of  Meat  in  New  Haven    29 

CHAPTER  VII 
New   Haven's   Milk   Supply    37 

CHAPTER  VIII 
How  New  Haven  Housewives  Purchase   45 

CHAPTER  IX 

Comparison  of  Prices  in  New  Haven  with  Prices  in  Ne.w  York,  Bridge- 
port, Hartford,  and  Springfield   48 

CHAPTER  X 
Conclusions  and   Recommendations    50 


49150C 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  WHOLESALE  FRUIT  AND  PRODUCE  TRADE 
In  the  largest  cities  the  wholesale  trade  in  fruit  and  produce  is  generally 
divided  into  two  sets  of  dealers,  first,  the  commission  houses  or  wholesale 
receivers,  who  obtain  goods  in  large  quantities  direct  from  country  shippers, 
and  second,  jobbers,  who  buy  goods  in  wholesale  lots  from  the  first  group, 
and  sell  in  small  quantities  to  retail  stores,  hotels,  etc.  In  smaller  cities  the 
wholesale  houses  take  the  form  of  jobbers,  who  buy  their  'supplies  mainly 
from  the  commission  men  or  wholesale  receivers  in  the  larger  cities,  rather 
than  direct  from  country  shippers.  This  is  the  case  in  New  Haven ;  the 
wholesalers  are  jobbers,  who  buy  very  little  direct  from  the  country,  and  who 
buy  their  goods  from  dealers  in  large  trade  centers,  especially  in  New  York. 
There  appear  to  be  about  12  or  14  of  these  wholesalers  or  jobbers  in  New 
Haven.  Four  of  these  are  much  larger  than  the  others,  and  these  four 
together  do  an  annual  business  of  approximately  one  million  dollars.  The 
other  8  or  10,  many  of  whom  are  very  small,  do  perhaps  a  combined  business 
of  another  million,  making  a  total  of  about  two  million  dollars  in  all.  This 
is  a  mere  estimate,  as  exact  figures  are  difficult  to  obtain.  There  are  two 
or  three  that  specialize  in  bananas,  but  most  of  these  companies  carry  a 
general  line  of  fruits  and  vegetables,  most  of  which  are  brought  from  points 
outside  of  New  Haven. 

Most  of  these  houses  are  located  on  George  Street,  on  lower  State  Street, 
and  also  at  the  lower  end  of  Commerce  Street,  in  close  proximity  to  the 
farmers'  market.  In  most  cities  the  wholesale  trade  is  more  highly  localized 
than  in  New  Haven,  but  the  absence  of  a  well  organized  farmers'  market, 
and  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  future  location  of  this  market,  have  probably 
had  the  effect  of  keeping  the  wholesalers  from  obtaining  permanent  locations 
in  closer  proximity  to  each  other. 

WHERE  WHOLESALERS  BUY 

As  already  mentioned  the  New  Haven  wholesalers  buy  very  largely  in 
the  New  York  market.  They  cannot  buy  direct  from  country  shippers  to 
any  large  extent,  because  goods  from  the  country  come  to  market  in  such 
a  variety  of  qualities  and  quantities  from  day  to  day,  that  the  local  market 
could  not  absorb  efficiently  and  economically  goods  obtained  in  this  way. 
About  six  of  the  larger  houses  send  buyers  to  New  York  every  day,  both 
to  buy  goods  and  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  market.  Some  of  them 
occasionally  send  buyers  south  to  Maryland,  Delaware,  and  Norfolk  during 
the  season  when  farm  produce  is  moving  in  large  quantities  from  that 
section  of  the  country,  and  even  occasionally  to  Florida.  When  this  is 
done,  goods  are  often  bought  in  those  localities  and  shipped  direct  in  car 
lots  to  New  Haven.  When  goods  are  bought  in  New  York  they  are  generally 
bought  f.o.b.  that  city,  the  local  jobber  paying  the  freight  to  New  Haven. 
Goods  are  brought  from  New  York  largely  by  steamer  rather  than  by  rail, 


— 5- 

and  are  usually  hauled  from  the  dock  to  the  jobber's  store  during  the  night 
or  early  in  the  morning. 

The  local  jobbers  also  buy  some  goods  in  the  farmers'  market,  but  on 
account  of  the  congestion  in  that  market,  and  the  inability  to  get  their  teams 
through  the  market,  they  do  not  find  it  convenient  to  buy  much  produce  in 
this  way.  Some  farmers  who  have  not  succeeded  in  disposing  of  all  their 
goods  in  the  Commerce  Street  Market,  sell  the  remainder  to  wholesalers; 
and  some  farmers  rather  than  try  to  sell  their  goods  under  the  unsatisfactory 
conditions  existing  in  the  Commerce  Street  Market,  sell  all  of  their  goods 
-to  wholesalers.  On  the  whole  the  wholesalers  do  not  handle  in  large  quan- 
tities during  the  summer  those  goods  which  local  farmers  are  bringing  to 
market.  In  the  winter,  on  the  other  hand,  they  handle  practically  every- 
thing outside  of  meats,  butter,  and  eggs. 

HOW  THE  WHOLESALERS  SELL 

The  local  wholesalers  sell  principally  to  retail  stores,  and  during  the  winter 
to  hucksters.  A  few  of  them  even  send  teams  into  the  Commerce  Street 
Market  during  the  summer  to  sell  to  hucksters  in  competition  with  the 
farmers  themselves.  The  goods  they  sell  in  this  way  are  bought  partly  from 
farmers  but  consist  principally  of  goods  brought  in  from  outside,  which  are 
not  raised  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Haven,  and  with  which  the  hucksters  must 
stock  their  wagons  before  they  start  their  daily  rounds  from  house  to  house. 
The  method  that  has  always  been  in  use  by  the  wholesalers  in  selling  to 
retail  stores  has  been  primitive  and  unsatisfactory,  in  that  they  have  always 
followed  the  practice  of  stocking  their  wagons  with  produce  early  in  the 
morning  and  peddling  it  about  from  store  to  store,  whereas  the  usual  way 
in  large  cities  is  to  procure  orders  through  salesmen  or  by  telephone,  and 
then  to  deliver  only  such  goods  as  are  ordered.  The  disadvantages  of  taking 
out  unsold  goods  and  peddling  them  about  from  store  to  store  are  as 
follows :  Since  the  goods  are  exposed  to  the  elements,  they  become  dirty  and 
dusty,  and  in  the  winter,  frost  bitten;  it  is  impossible  to  know  just  how 
much  will  be  wanted  of  each  commodity  and  consequently  they  frequently 
take  out  an  insufficient  supply  of  some  articles,  and  have  too  much  of  others, 
with  the  result  some  goods  are  usually  left  over,  and  have  to  be  brought 
back  to  the  store  and  kept  over  night  with  consequent  deterioration;  when 
goods  are  peddled  from  store  to  store,  the  store  keepers  pick  over  the  goods, 
selecting  the  best,  thus  leaving  inferior  stuff  for  other  stores.  This  also 
results  in  a  rather  poor  adjustment  of  prices  to  actual  quality  of  goods.  The 
jobbers  also  estimate  that  this  is  a  more  costly  method  of  selling  than  by 
sending  out  order  takers  and  delivering  only  such  goods  as  are  ordered. 

Fortunately,  a  definite  attempt  has  been  made  during  the  winter  of  1916-17 
to  do  away  with  this  unsatisfactory  method  of  selling  to  retail  stores,  and 
a  few  of  the  largest  houses  have  definitely  adopted  the  policy  of  sending  out 
men  to  take  orders,  and  then  delivering  only  such  goods  as  are  definitely 
ordered.  The  wholesalers  are  to  be  commended  for  their  action  in  this 
matter.  It  will  undoubtedly  result  in  more  economical  methods  of  distribu- 
tion, and  in  supplying  retail  stores  with  produce  of  better  quality. 


CREDIT  CONDITIONS 

Although  bills  are  supposed  to  be  payable  weekly,  the  wholesalers  complain 
that  credit  conditions  are  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  state.  Although  the  losses 
from  bad  debts  are  not  large,  yet  so  many  of  the  retail  merchants  allow 
their  bills  to  run  indefinitely  that  the  wholesalers  have  to  keep  a  large 
amount  of  capital  tied  up  in  their  business,  and  are  put  to  considerable 
collection  expense.  They  find  it  difficult  to  overcome  this  condition,  because 
if  any  jobber  attempts  to  enforce  the  weekly  settlement  plan  strictly,  he  is 
apt  to  lose  trade  to  other  concerns  who  are  liberal  with  their  credits.  In 
some  cities  this  difficulty  has  been  overcome  by  associative  action  among  the 
wholesalers,  who  maintain  a  credit  bureau  which  keeps  track  of  accounts 
with  all  retailers.  Bills  have  to  be  settled  by  a  certain  day  of  each  week, 
and  dealers  are  required  to  pay  cash  if  they  have  not  paid  by  the  stipulated 
date. 

MARGINS  TAKEN  BY  WHOLESALERS 

On  the  whole,  the  margins  of  gross  profit  taken  out  by  wholesalers  are 
relatively  small.  For  example,  when  jobbers  were  paying  from  $1.80  to 
$1.85  per  bushel  for  potatoes  laid  down  in  New  Haven,  they  were  selling 
to  retail  stores  at  $2.00  a  bushel.  When  they  were  buying  onions  for  $5.25 
a  sack,  they  were  selling  them  for  $5.50.  When  oranges  cost  them  $3.00  a 
box  laid  down  in  New  Haven,  they  usually  sell  them  to  retailers  for  $3.25 
a  box.  No  figures  were  obtained  on  the  actual  cost  of  doing  business  in 
these  houses,  but  in  most  cities  it  averages  from  5  to  7  per  cent  of  the  sales, 
and  this  is  probably  the  case  in  New  Haven. 

ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THE  COMMERCE  STREET  MARKET 
All  of  the  wholesalers  interviewed,  claimed  that  the  present  conditions  in 
the  Commerce  Street  Market  are  extremely  unsatisfactory.  They  say  that 
farmers  have  to  come  to  market  at  an  unreasonably  early  hour  to  obtain  suit- 
able locations;  that  there  is  no  suitable  place  for  hucksters  to  keep  their 
wagons  while  they  are  buying  produce  from  the  farmers;  and  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  wholesalers  to  buy  and  sell  in  this  market  conveniently. 
Most  of  them  expressed  a  willingness  and  desire  to  be  located  within  close 
proximity  of  the  farmers'  wholesale  market,  and  said  that  they  would  be  glad 
to  rent  buildings  near  it,  if  a  permanent  location  should  be  decided  upon. 
Most  of  them  believe  that  the  city  should  furnish  and  operate  a  farmers'  mar- 
ket; they  also  suggest  that  the  city  should  furnish  market  buildings  in  or 
near  such  a  market  to  be  rented  to  the  wholesale  dealers.  They  complain  that 
sharp  practices  and  thieving  are  common  in  the  present  market,  and  that 
there  really  "is  no  market,"  meaning  that  there  is  no  definite  market  price, 
owing  to  the  disorganized  condition.  The  wholesalers  all  agree  that  the 
principal  need  in  New  Haven  is  a  well  organized  and  operated  farmers' 
market,  with  definite  spaces  assigned  to  individual  farmers,  and  rents 
charged  therefor. 


CHAPTER  II 

NEW  HAVEN  RETAIL  STORES 

In  order  to  obtain  information  as  to  how  retail  grocers  of  New  Haven 
buy  their  supplies,  how  they  handle  them,  etc.,  personal  visits  were  made 
to  44  retailers  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  The  stores  visited  are  of  the 
greatest  variety:  some  are  chain  stores,  some  are  fancy  grocers,  some  are 
the  large  State  Street  stores,  and  a  good  many  are  small  single  stores  in 
the  outlying  districts  of  the  city. 

SOURCE  OF  SUPPLIES 

Information  was  obtained  as  to  where  the  retailers  buy  their  supplies  of 
fruits  and  vegetables,  butter  and  eggs,  and  meats.  Practically  all  of  them 
buy  the  bulk  of  their  fruits  and  vegetables  from  New  Haven  wholesalers, 
and  12  of  them  buy  solely  from  this  source.  Twenty-five  of  the  44  stores 
buy  also  direct  from  growers,  and  7  of  the  largest  houses  buy  direct  from 
New  York  wholesalers.  Those  who  buy  direct  from  New  York  send  buyers 
to  that  city. 

It  has  been  explained  in  the  chapter  on  the  wholesale  trade  that  it  has 
always  been  the  custom  for  the  wholesale  produce  dealers  to  peddle  produce 
from  their  wagons  to  the  retail  stores,  rather  than  to  take  orders  ahead. 
It  was  explained  that  this  is  a  primitive  and  wasteful  method,  and  that  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1916-17  the  wholesalers  have  made  an  attempt  to  sub- 
stitute the  method  of  taking  orders  in  advance.  This  attempt  was  under 
way  when  the  retailers  were  visited  in  this  investigation,  and  a  special  effort 
was  made  to  find  out  whether  the  retailers  were  ordering  ahead  or  buying 
from  wholesalers'  wagons.  Out  of  39  reporting  on  this  point,  only  14  said 
that  they  were  ordering  their  goods  in  advance,  another  14  said  they  bought 
in  both  ways,  and  n  that  they  bought  entirely  from  the  wagons  of  whole- 
salers. Many  of  the  retailers  claimed  that  they  preferred  to  buy  from 
wholesalers'  wagons,  because  they  then  had  an  opportunity  to  select  their 
stuff  more  carefully,  and  to  see  just  what  they  were  getting.  Many  of  the 
small  wholesalers  still  sell  entirely  from  their  wagons,  and  the  transition  to 
the  method  of  ordering  ahead  has  been  only  partially  accomplished.  On  the 
whole,  the  better  and  larger  retailers  are  favorable  to  ordering  goods  ahead. 

In  some,  cases  a  wholesale  huckster  or  peddler  appears  between  the  regular 
New  Haven  wholesaler  and  the  retail  store.  This  is  especially  true  in  out- 
lying sections  of  the  city.  For  example,  out  of  6  stores  visited  in  the  City 
Point  section,  3  reported  that  they  buy  principally  from  hucksters.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  the  wholesale  dealers  cannot  afford  to  cover  the 
smallest  stores  in  some  of  the  outlying  districts,  and  these  stores  cannot 
buy  in  large  enough  quantities  to  buy  regularly.  Hence  an  additional 
middleman  appears  in  the  few  such  cases. 

In  buying  direct  from  growers,  the  goods  are  delivered  by  the  growers 
in  practically  all  cases.  About  half  of  the  retailers  have  arrangements  with 
growers  to  call  on  them  regularly.  In  a  few  cases  the  growers  call  the 
stores  by  telephone  to  find  out  what  they  shall  bring  the  next  day,  but  more 


often  they  find  out  on  one  day's  visit  what  they  shall  bring  the  next.  Buy- 
ing direct  from  growers  is  practically  limited,  of  course,  to  the  summer 
months.  During  the  winter  the  retailers  have  to  rely  almost  wholly  on 
local  wholesalers. 

Retailers  pay  growers  cash,  but  in  buying  from  wholesalers  bills  are 
supposed  to  be  payable  weekly  in  the  majority  of  instances.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  weekly  payments  are  not  lived  up  to  and  the  credit  conditions  between 
New  Haven  wholesalers  and  retailers  are  in  an  unsatisfactory  condition, 
as  explained  above. 

DELIVERIES 

Of  the  43  stores  from  whom  information  was  received  on  this  point,  8 
have  no  delivery  service  at  all,  22  deliver  only  in  the  section  of  the  city 
where  they  are  located,  and  13  deliver  to  all  parts  of  the  city.  Among  those 
that  make  no  deliveries  are  some  of  the  large  down-town  cash  stores,  as 
well  as  some  small  neighborhood  stores.  Of  those  that  make  deliveries,  2 
use  only  messenger  boys  and  3  use  push  carts;  there  are  24  that  use  autos, 
and  9  of  these  use  wagons  in  addition  to  autos.  Of  those  making  deliveries, 
9  deliver  irregularly,  2  make  only  I  delivery  a  day,  5  make  2  deliveries  a 
day,  3  make  3  a  day,  8  make  4  a  day,  and  3  make  5  or  more.  Most  of  the 
large  State  Street  stores  make  4  deliveries  a  day. 

The  old  custom  of  soliciting  orders  from  house  to  house  appears  to  be 
on  the  decline  in  New  Haven.  In  the  Whitney  Avenue  section  practically 
no  house  to  house  solicitation  is  made.  In  the  City  Point  section  on  the 
other  hand,  all  of  the  dealers  solicit  orders  from  house  to  house.  For  the 
whole  city,  out  of  39  stores  reporting,  16  still  solicit  orders  and  the  other  23 
do  not.  Some  of  the  latter  do  some  soliciting  from  regular  customers  by 
telephone. 

While  the  solicitation  or  orders  from  house  to  house  has  been  decreasing, 
the  use  of  the  telephone  has  been  increasing.  Out  of  39  stores  reporting  on 
this  point,  21  claim  that  they  receive  a  large  part 'of  their  orders  by  tele- 
phone. Only  5  say  that  they  receive  no  orders  at  all  in  this  way.  The 
telephone  is  a  time-saver  if  used  properly.  The  principal  difficulty  with  this 
method  of  buying  is  that  it  encourages  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the 
housewife,  who  neglects  to  make  up  her  orders  for  the  day  in  the  forenoon, 
and  who  consequently  orders  small  quantities  by  telephone  later  in  the  day. 
The  retailers  were  asked  whether  they  receive  unreasonable  telephone 
requests  from  their  customers  to  deliver  quickly.  Fifteen  of  the  retailers 
were  non-committal  but  26  said  that  they  did  receive  such  unreasonable 
requests,  and  only  3  said  that  they  did  not  receive  such  orders.  The  reply 
of  one  grocer  to  this  question  was,  "Yes,  every  minute  of  the  day!"  A 
few  reply  that  they  pay  no  attention  to  such  orders,  and  deliver  only  z. 
their  regular  delivery  hours. 

THE  HANDLING  OF  BUTTER  AND  EGGS 

Information  was  received  from  39  stores  concerning  the  source  of  their 
supply  of  eggs.  In  buying  strictly  fresh  eggs  23  reported  that  they  obtained 
them  entirely  from  farmers,  5  partly  from  farmers  and  partly  from  whole- 


sale  dealers,  and  5  entirely  from  wholesalers.  There  are  also  5  stores  that 
do  not  handle  strictly  fresh  eggs  at  all,  and  one  store  that  buys  his  supply 
largely  from  a  country  merchant.  It  will  be  observed  that  most  of  the 
strictly  fresh  eggs  come  from  nearby  territory.  All  of  the  stores  inter- 
viewed buy  their  cold  storage  eggs  from  New  Haven  wholesalers.  One 
store,  a  fancy  grocery,  does  not  handle  storage  eggs  at  all. 

In  the  purchase  of  butter,  35  stores  out  of  36  obtain  their  supplies  from 
New  Haven  wholesalers,  and  the  other,  a  fancy  grocery,  buys  direct  from 
creameries.  As  pointed  out  in  the  chapter  on  butter  and  eggs,  the  butter 
handled  by  most  of  the  New  Haven  stores  is  not  of  the  very  highest  quality, 
and  only  one  of  the  New  Haven  wholesalers  handles  the  fresh  country 
creamery  product. 

In  buying  their  storage  butter  and  eggs,  30  stores  out  of  38  reporting 
enter  into  contracts  with  the  New  Haven  wholesalers.  These  contracts  are 
described  in  detail  in  the  chapter  on  butter  and  eggs. 

ATTITUDE  TOWARD  COMMERCE  STREET  MARKET 

Only  13  out  of  43  stores  visited  go  to  the  Commerce  Street  Market  in 
the  early  morning  during  the  summer  months  for  their  supplies  of  fresh 
vegetables  and  fruit.  This  situation  is  somewhat  different  from  that  found 
in  other  cities,  where  retailers  more  commonly  buy  in  the  farmers'  whole- 
sale market.  Out  of  31  who  assigned  reasons  for  not  going  to  this  market, 
10  said  either  that  they  did  not  have  time  or  that  it  was  too  far  to  the 
market  place,  3  reported  that  they  had  no  facilities  for  bringing  produce 
from  the  market  to  their  stores,  10  replied  that  the  condition  of  the  market 
was  so  bad  that  they  did  not  care  to  buy  in  it,  and  8  said  that  the  expense 
of  making  the  trip  to  market  was  too  great.  A  few  also  complained  that 
the  quality  of  the  produce  offered  for  sale  was  not  attractive  to  them. 

In  addition  to  the  13  who  do  go  to  market  there  are  7  or  8  who  claimed 
that  they  would  be  glad  to  go  if  the  market  were  properly  organized,  and 
if  there  were  proper  facilities  for  placing  their  wagons  in  the  market  place. 
Of  course  there  are  a  great  many  small  retailers  in  the  outlying  sections 
who  buy  such  small  quantities  that  it  would  not  pay  them  to  make  the  trip 
to  market  every  morning,  but  there  are  a  sufficient  number  of  retailers  who 
would  go  to  market  if  it  were  properly  organized  and  operated  to  furnish 
a  very  strong  argument  for  an  improved  market  place.  Practically  all  of 
the  retailers  agreed  that  the  present  condition  is  disgraceful,  and  that  New 
Haven's  principal  need  is  a  properly  organized  wholesale  market  for  farmers. 

COMPETITION  OF  HUCKSTERS 

*  Twenty  out  of  a  total  of  37  feel  that  the  hucksters  offer  severe  competition. 
This  is  especially  true  during  the  summer  and  for  the  trade  in  vegetables. 
One  grocer  alleged  that  his  trade  was  cut  in  half  by  the  operations  of  the 
hucksters,  but  most  of  the  grocers  who  feel  the  competition  call  it  severe  but 
give  no  such  extravagant  figure.  One  grocer  explained  that  in  purchasing 
from  the  huckster  the  housewife  is  often  kept  from  coming  to  the  store,  and 
in  this  way,  the  grocer  not  only  loses  the  sale  made  by  the  huckster,  but 


— IO — 

also  the  sale  of  other  articles  that  the  housewife  might  have  bought  if  she 
had  come  to  the  store  in  the  first  place.  One  half  of  the  grocers  reporting 
think  that  they  are  undersold  by  the  hucksters. 

The  problem  of  waste  in  connection  with  the  handling  of  perishables  is 
a  question  upon  which  there  is  a  wide  difference  of  opinion.  Thirteen  say 
that  there  is  not  much  waste  and  20  say  that  there  is.  At  least  14  out  of 
the  20  state  a  percentage  of  waste  of  10  per  cent  or  more.  Four  estimates 
run  over  18  per  cent.  Of  course  care  in  buying  and  price  policies  with 
regard  to  deteriorating  supplies  have  a  good  deal  to  do  with  percentages  of 
waste.  One  grocer  explained  that  when  he  sees  that  he  cannot  hold  berries 
he  reduces  the  price,  perhaps  even  giving  them  to  customers,  whereas  others 
sell  what  they  can  at  the  price,  and  dump  the  rest. 

EXTENT  TO  WHICH  MEAT  is  HANDLED 

Over  70  per  cent  of  those  answering,  that  is,  30  out  of  42,  handle  fresh 
meats  in  addition  to  groceries.  The  meat  is  practically  all  bought  of  New 
Haven  wholesalers.  All  buy  whole  quarters  or  more. 

COST  OF  DOING  BUSINESS 

The  figures  given  for  the  cost  of  doing  business  run  all  the  way  from 
10  per  cent  to  over  20  per  cent.  Seven  give  a  cost  of  10  per  cent,  three 
from  11-14  per  cent,  three  from  15-17  per  cent,  ten  from  19-20  per  cent, 
and  two  have  a  cost  of  doing  business  of  over  20  per  cent.  It  is  apparent, 
however,  that  some  of  these  figures  are  too  low  because  in  the  case  of  the 
10  per  cent  group  it  is  known  that  some  grocers  did  not  include  salaries  for 
themselves.  Then  too,  in  some  cases  the  figures  given  are  no  more  than 
estimates,  for  many  retail  grocers  do  not  have  the  figures  upon  which  to 
base  an  accurate  statement  of  their  costs.  The  average  cost  of  doing  busi- 
ness for  well-managed  groceries,  giving  full  service  in  the  way  of  credits, 
deliveries,  etc.,  appears  to, be  from  17  to  20  per  cent,  which  is  about  the 
average  for  similar  stores  in  other  cities.  This  means  that  the  grocers  must 
take  gross  margins  of  from  20  to  23  per  cent  of  their  selling  prices  in  order 
to  make  net  profits  of  3  per  cent  on  their  sales.  Stores  which  do  not  give 
credit  and  make  deliveries  have  lower  costs,  and  those  which  may  be  classified 
as  "fancy  grocers"  have  higher  costs. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  TRUCK  GROWERS 

Inasmuch  as  the  vegetable  and  fruit  growers  in  and  about  New  Haven 
furnish  the  farm  produce  which  is  sold  in  the  Commerce  Street  Market  and 
since  New  Haven's  principal  need  is  a  well-organized  market  place  for  these 
growers,  information  has  been  obtained  from  a  large  number  of  them, 
concerning  their  distance  from  market,  the  time  necessary  for  trips,  whether 
they  are  satisfied  with  present  conditions,  and  other  matters  which  bear  on 
the  present  problem. 


— II — 

The  growers  reporting  are  located  principally  in  Hamden,  Highwood, 
North  Haven,  Wallingford  (fruit  growers  principally),  Orange,  and  a  few 
other  towns.  Detailed  information  was  received  from  53  of  them.  The 
average  number  of  acres  that  the  growers  in  Highwood  and  Hamden  have 
under  cultivation  is  about  28,  and  ranges  all  the  way  from  five  to  one 
hundred  acres.  These  growers  were  asked  if  they  would  increase  their 
acreage  if  there  were  a  better  market  in  New  Haven,  and  out  of  30  who 
replied,  19  said  they  would  do  so. 

The  average  distance  over  which  these  53  growers  have  to  haul  their  goods 
to  reach  the  New  Haven  market  is  &/2  miles.  From  the  Highwood  section, 
it  is  only  4>i  miles;  from  the  Hamden  section,  5  miles;  from  the  North 
Haven  section,  6$4  miles,  and  from  Wallingford,  12^/3  miles.  The  greatest 
distance  that  any  grower  reported  was  20  miles.  Of  the  total  number,  43 
use  wagons  for  hauling  to  New  Haven,  and  of  these  10  use  autos  in  addition 
to  their  wagons.  There  are  two  who  use  only  auto  trucks. 

The  average  length  of  time  used  in  reaching  New  Haven  is  one  hour  and 
eleven  minutes..  From  Highwood  the  time  is  a  little  less  than  an  hour,  from 
Hamden  one  hour  and  eight  minutes,  and  from  North  Haven  nearly  an 
hour  and  a  half.  Farmers  from  Clintonville  require  about  two  and  one-half 
hours  to  reach  New  Haven,  and  those  from  Wallingford  nearly  three  hours. 

Out  of  44  growers  who  reported  on  the  hour  of  starting  their  journeys, 
3  said  that  they  started  before  midnight,  22  between  midnight  and  2  A.  M., 
13  between  2  and  4  A.  M.,  and  6  after  4  A.  M.  These  figures  indicate  that  a 
large  majority  start  at  an  unreasonably  early  hour  in  order  to  reach  market 
in  time  to  obtain  good  locations, — a  difficulty  that  would  be  overcome  if  the 
growers  had  definite  spaces  or  stalls  assigned  to  them.  The  fact  that 
growers  have  to  start  so  early  in  the  morning  keeps  a  good  many  of  them 
from  coming  to  the  New  Haven  Market  at  all. 

As  for  the  hour  of  starting  back  to  their  farms,  4  out  of  37  replied  that 
they  began  their  return  journeys  before  7  A.  M.,  19  between  7  and  8  A.  M., 
and  14  after  8  A.  M.  This  indicates  that  the  majority  of  the  growers  are 
back  on  their  farms  before  9  A.  M. 

Out  of  45  growers  who  reported  the  number  of  trips  they  make  to  market 
during  the  height  of  the  season,  23  replied  that  they  come  practically  every 
day.  The  average  appears  to  be  about  5  times  a  week,  although  there  are 
a  number  who  appear  to  come  about  every  other  day.  The  average  value 
of  a  load  is  about  $42,  but  this  varies  all  the  way  from  $10  a  load  to  $75 
and  over.  The  majority  report  from  $25  to  $50.  The  market  is  not  in  full 
swing  until  June,  although  out  of  40  reporting  on  this  point,  10  begin  their 
trips  in  May,  21  in  June,  one  in  July,  and  8  in  August.  Those  who  begin 
their  trips  in  August  sell  fruit  only.  The  farmers  keep  up  their  trips  until 
into  November  and  December,  4  replying  that  they  stopped  in  September, 
7  in  October,  15  in  November,  and  10  in  December. 

The  buyers  in  the  farmers'  market  comprise  retail  merchants,  peddlers 
or  hucksters,  wholesale  dealers,  and  buyers  who  ship  to  other  points. 
Figures  were  obtained  from  the  growers  which  indicate  the  relative  impor- 
tance of  these  four  classes  of  buyers,  and  the  following  percentages  show 


— 12 — 

approximately  the  proportions  of  the  total  amount  of  the  produce  bought 
by  each : 

PER   CENT 

Retail  Dealers 24 

Peddlers  .     • 45 

Wholesale  Dealers 22 

Buyers  for  Outside       .  .        ...        .        .        -9 


Total 


100 


These  figures  indicate  that  the  peddlers  or  hucksters  are  by  far  the  most 
important  buyers  in  the  farmers'  market,  and  that  retail  dealers  and 
wholesalers  are  of  about  equal  importance. 


Diagram  showing  relative  importance  of  the  different  classes  of  buyers 
in  the  Commerce  Street  market. 


Farmers  who  bring  goods  to  the  New  Haven  Market  frequently  return  with 
a  part  of  their  goods  unsold.  Out  of  47  who  replied  on  this  point,  27  said 
that  they  commonly  brought  more  than  they  could  dispose  of.  Five  of  these 


—13— 

said  that  they  take  them  home  and  bring  them  back  the  next  day;  17 
sell  what  is  left  to  retail  stores ;  and  2  report  that  they  destroy  the  goods 
that  are  unsold.  Thirty-four  growers  report  that  they  also  ship  produce  to 
other  markets,  while  13  say  that  they  sell  all  of  their  goods  in  New  Haven. 
Of  the  cities  to  which  produce  is  sent  by  New  Haven  growers,  Boston  is 
by  far  the  most  important,  although  a  few  ship  goods  to  New  York,  Spring- 
field, Providence,  and  Bridgeport.  Because  of  close  relations  with  the  Bos- 
ton Market,  it  is  the  Boston  prices  that  growers  follow  from  day  to  day, 
rather  than  New  York  prices,  although  a  few  report  that  they  follow  the 
prices  in  the  latter  city.  Only  about  half  of  the  growers  reported  that  they 
followed  prices  in'  outside  cities  at  all. 

As  for  the  attitude  of  the  growers  toward  the  present  market  in  Com- 
merce Street,  45  reported  that  they  were  dissatisfied  with  present  conditions, 
and  3  said  that  they  were  satisfied.  Thirty-nine  out  of  40  reported  that  they 
were  in  favor  of  city  ownership  of  a  market  place;  most  of  them  believe 
that  this  should  be  purely  a  wholesale  market,  although  16  think  that  provi- 
sion should  be  made  for  a  combination  wholesale  and  retail  market.  Prac- 
tically all  of  the  growers  believe  that  the  market  place  should  be  covered, 
and  they  are  also  practically  unanimous  in  believing  that  spaces  should  be 
assigned,  and  rent  charged.  There  were  25  who  expressed  their  opinions 
on  the  proper  location  for  such  a  market,  and  n  of  these  apparently  favored 
the  present  location,  5  a  location  on  Goffe  Street,  and  the  remainder 
scattering  locations. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  COMMERCE  STREET  MARKET  AND  FARMERS'  MARKETS 

IN  OTHER  CITIES 

By  H.  A.  BRANDT 

Various  references  are  made  throughout  this  report  to  the  Commerce 
Street  Market.  Unfortunately,  this  market  was  not  in  active  operation  during 
the  time  that  this  study  was  being  made,  and  consequently  it  has  been 
impossible  to  secure  as  much  specific  information  as  desirable.  Enough 
information  has  been  received,  however,  to  make  possible  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  the  market  with  special  reference  to  its  shortcomings,  and  inasmuch 
as  the  establishment  of  a  well  organized  and  operated  farmers'  market  is 
New  Haven's  principal  need,  some  information  has  been  gathered  relative 
to  the  operation  of  farmers'  markets  in  other  cities. 

The  Commerce  Street  Market  is  an  open,  uncovered  market-place,  of  the 
type  usually  referred  to  as  a  "curb  market."  Farmers  drive  in  during  the 
night  or  early  in  the  morning,  and  station  themselves  at  such  convenient 
places  along  Commerce  Street  as  are  available,  overflowing  into  vacant  lots 
to  the  west  of  Commerce  Street.  Various  estimates  place  the  number  of 
growers  at  from  two  hundred  to  over  three  hundred,  and  since  the  market 
area  is  not  partitioned  off  into  spaces,  there  is  a  general  scrambling  for  good 
locations,  and  farmers  often  come  to  market  from  two  to  four  hours  before 


—14— 

actual  business  begins  at  about  five  o'clock,  in  order  to  obtain  such  locations. 
Farmers  do  not  unhitch  their  horses  from  their  wagons,  and  since  they 
assemble  without  following  any  definite  scheme  of  arrangement,  more  or 
less  congestion  results.  The  situation  is  complicated  by  the  fact  that  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  hucksters,  as  well  as  a  number  of  retailers, 
seek  convenient  locations  with  their  wagons.  The  market  is  without  regula- 
tion of  any  kind,  there  is  no  market  master,  and  there  is  no  organization  that 
has  any  authority. 

Out  of  these  unorganized  conditions  there  have  developed  weaknesses. 
In  the  first  place  the  fact  that  there  are  no  assigned  spaces  results  in  farmers 
having  to  start  for  market  much  earlier  than  necessary,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out.  This  fact  also  keeps  away  many  farmers  who  would  otherwise 
come.  The  congestion  resulting  from  no  regular  lay-out  and  assignment 
of  spaces  results  in  the  greatest  confusion.  Wagons  are  jammed  in  in  every 
conceivable  way,  and  it  is  difficult  to  pass  from  one  part  of  the  market  to 
another,  and  for  a  huckster  to  carry  goods  that  he  has  bought  from  a 
farmer's  wagon  to  his  own.  On  account  of  this  congestion  and  demoraliza- 
tion many  retailers  who  would  otherwise  come  to  the  market  stay  away. 
The  chaotic  conditions  also  lead  to  more  or  less  thieving,  and  it  is  said  that 
dealers  dislike  to  leave  their  own  wagons  for  any  length  of  time  to  go  to 
some  other  part  of  the  market.  It  is  alleged  that  the  sanitary  conditions 
are  poor,  in  that  there  are  no  adequate  provisions  for  keeping  the  street 
clean.  It  is  also  said  that  the  market  is  so  disorganized  that  there  is  no 
very  definite  market  price,  and  that  goods  of  the  same  quality  are  sold  at 
different  prices  in  different  parts  of  the  market.  Complaint  is  also  made 
that  there  is  an  undue  amount  of  speculation,  and  that  some  men  give  their 
whole  time  to  buying  up  goods,  in  order  to  re-sell  them  in  the  market  at  a 
profit.  A  certain  amount  of  this  buying  to  sell  again  possibly  has  a  bene- 
ficial effect  in  that  it  tends  to  bring  about  a  better  adjustment  of  prices  and 
a  better  price  level  throughout  the  whole  market ;  but  it  is  further  alleged 
that  such  speculators,  or  "jockers"  as  they  are  locally  called,  are  able  to 
corner  the  market  on  certain  articles  and  boost  the  prices  to  an  unnatural 
level. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  how  unsatisfactory  the  conditions  are  in 
the  Commerce  Street  Market,  and  it  is  perfectly  evident  that  something 
definite  should  be  done  as  soon  as  possible  to  improve  conditions.  In  decid- 
ing what  should  be  done,  it  will  be  of  value  to  know  what  provisions  other 
cities  make  in  the  way  of  public  markets  for  farmers. 

MARKETS  IN  OTHER  CITIES 

In  connection  with  this  investigation  no  first  hand  study  has  been  made 
of  the  market  policies  of  other  cities,  except  that  one  visit  was  made  to 
Providence,  where  the  farmers  have  their  own  cooperative  market,  and 
where  it  was  believed  some  information  might  be  gathered  which  would  be 
of  special  value  to  New  Haven  in  solving  her  problem.  On  the  whole,  the 
information  about  other  cities,  as  derived  from  printed  sources,  is  meager 
and  fragmentary,  and  it  would  appear  desirable  that  a  more  intensive  study 


—15— 

be  made  of  the  market  policies  of  a  few  leading  cities,  before  a  permanent 
policy  is  decided  upon  for  New  Haven. 

Information  with  regard  to  markets  in  fifty-four  cities  in  the  United  States 
indicates  that  fifty  own  and  control  their  own  markets,  and  that  seven  of 
these  have  privately  owned  markets  in  addition  to  those  owned  by  the  city; 
the  other  four  cities  have  only  privately  owned  markets. 

Many  of  these  cities,  especially  the  larger  ones,  have  market  spaces  which 
are  rented  to  retailers,  and  in  all  such  cases  there  is  a  market  building,  or  at 
least  a  covered  market  place.  Most  of  the  cities  also  have  provision  for 
farmers,  and  in  some  cases  the  farmers'  markets  are  covered  and  in  others 
they  are  open  curb  markets. 

The  market  place  is  always  laid  off  into  spaces  or  stalls,  and  rents  are 
charged  to  farmers  for  the  use  of  these  spaces.  The  rent  is  commonly  from 
ten  cents  to  twenty-five  cents  a  day  depending  upon  the  size  of  the  wagon, 
and  in  some  places  according  to  the  location  within  the  market.  It  is  also 
customary  to  have  a  season  rate,  such  rate  ranging  from  ten  dollars  to 
twenty-five  dollars.  One  city  auctions  off  its  curb  spaces  at  the  beginning 
of  each  year,  and  the  prices  paid  by  growers  range  from  fifteen  dollars  to 
three  hundred  dollars  for  the  season.  Most  of  the  city  markets  are  self- 
sustaining  financially,  and  some  of  the  larger  markets,  where  space  is  rented 
to  retail  dealers,  yield  profits  to  the  city.  The  best  policy,  however,  appears 
to  be  for  the  city  to  charge  only  enough  to  pay  the  operating  expenses  of 
the  markets. 

Most  of  the  cities  having  markets  have  market  masters,  who  are  paid 
from  nine  hundred  dollars  to  twelve  hundred  dollars  a  year.  In  some  cases 
a  member  of  the  police  force  is  made  the  market  master.  Most  cities  also 
have  provisions  for  inspection  of  sanitary  conditions;  in  some  cases  a 
regular  inspector  is  kept  in  the  market  all  the  time;  in  other  cases  the  Board 
of  Health  sends  an  inspector  to  the  market  occasionally.  Inspection  of 
weights  and  measures  also  has  to  be  provided  for,  and  this  function  is 
already  being  performed  efficiently  in  the  New  Haven  market. 

A  farmers'  market  may  be  owned  by  the  city,  owned  by  a  private  corpora- 
tion, or  owned  by  the  farmers  themselves.  The  commonest  form  is  a  city- 
owned  market,  such  as  has  been  described  above.  Privately  owned 
markets  are  in  some  cases  successful,  and  where  successful  are  apt  to  be 
operated  more  efficiently  and  intelligently  than  a  city  owned  market.  The 
following  description  of  a  market  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  furnishes  a  good 
illustration  of  a  privately  owned  market:1 

"There  is  here  a  public  market  which  is  owned  ...  by  a  stock  com- 
pany, and  the  rules  and  regulations  are  established  by  this  company.  The 
market  may  be  considered  a  success  when  it  is  stated  that  it  has  paid  the 
stock  company  four  six-per-cent  dividends  in  six  years  and  has  set  aside 
$4,000  as  a  surplus.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $480,  and  the 
annual  expenses  of  the  market,  including  salary,  are  $1,800.  The  market 
building  proper  is  occupied  by  wholesale  farmers,  but  about  75  farmers 
gather  each  morning  at  the  curb,  for  which  they  pay  25  cents  per  morning, 

1  The  American  City,  Feb.  1913,  p.  129. 


— 1 6— 

or  from  $9  to  $12  per  season,  for  wagon  space  of  seven  feet,  this  latter 
payment  giving  the  farmer  a  regular  place  to  stand  .  .  .  The  market 
received  shipments  from  other  communities,  principally  fruit,  vegetables, 
butter  and  eggs." 

Minneapolis  also  has  a  successful  farmers'  market,  which  is  owned  and 
operated  as  a  private  enterprise.  The  following  description  of  this  market 
furnishes  some  valuable  suggestions  :x 

"Stalls  for  the  entire  season  cost  $25  each,  and  for  the  berry  season  only, 
ten  dollars  each.  A  stall  may  be  rented  by  two  gardeners  who  may  occupy 
it  on  alternate  days.  Transients  are  charged  twenty-five  cents  a  day  for  the 
use  of  a  stall.  When  a  grower  signs  for  a  stall  he  agrees  to  the  following 
rules  and  regulations :  'It  being  a  special  agreement  under  which  this  stall 
is  rented,  the  tenant  only  has  the  use  of  the  same  when  personally  occupy- 
ing it  with  his  wagon,  with  the  horses  off,  and  the  pole  or  shafts  detached 
and  out  of  the  way,  and  he  is  not  to  sublet  for  any  part  of  this  season  nor 
have  any  control  over  the  occupancy  of  this  stand  except  when  he  is  per- 
sonally using  the  same,  and  it  is  optional  with  the  Central  City  Market 
Company  to  put  any  other  tenant  in  this  stand  when  it  becomes  vacant, 
either  by  the  absence  of  this  tenant  or  by  his  non-payment  of  rent  when  it 
is  due.  The  tenant  occupying  this  stand  also  agrees  not  to  deposit  any 
decayed  or  spoiled  vegetable  matter  on  this  stand  or  on  the  pavement  in 
the  driveway  in  front  of  this  stand,  and  that  all  such  refuse  matter  he  may 
have  on  his  load  he  will  remove  from  the  market  place,  and  that  no  huckster 
business  will  be  done  on  this  stall,  and  no  sale  to  be  made  before  6  A.  M.' 
By  huckstering  is  meant  in  this  contract  the  buying  of  products  by  a  grower 
for  the  purpose  of  reselling  on  the  Central  Market.  This  regulation  does 
not  apply  to  certain  stalls,  twenty  in  number,  which  are  rented  expressly 
for  the  purpose  of  buying  and  selling.  Huckstering  as  a  general  practice 
on  a  market  of  this  kind  is  not  to  be  encouraged,  but  the  setting  aside  of 
a  few  stalls  for  this  purpose  helps  to  keep  the  market  normal.  .  .  .  The 
growers  need  no  special  license  to  sell  the  products  at  the  Central  Market 
and  they  may  sell  to  whomever  they  please.  If  they  have  any  vegetables 
left  that  they  are  unable  to  dispose  of  at  the  market,  they  often  unload  to 
a  dealer  on  Commission  Row  .  .  ." 

The  market  itself  is  described  as  follows :  "The  market  court  has  three 
sheds  which  are  twelve  feet  wide  and  330  feet  long,  with  stalls  on  each  side, 
which  are  six  feet  wide.  The  wagons  back  up  to  raised  platforms,  which 
extend  the  full  length  of  the  market,  and  on  these  the  products  are  dis- 
played. The  stalls  are  wide  enough  to  accommodate  the  customary  wagons, 
but  the  large  trucks  now  coming  into  use  require  more  room.  The  same 
condition  exists  in  regard  to  the  driveways  between  the  sheds  which  are 
forty-five  feet  wide;  .  .  .  when  the  market  is  in  full  swing  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  teams  to  get  in  or  out." 

"The  Central  City  Market  is  mainly  a  wholesale  market,  altho  it  is 
patronized  to  some  extent  by  consumers.  It  is  a  local  growers'  market  and 
only  local  products  can  be  sold  on  it." 


1  Weld,    Studies    in    the    Marketing    of    Farm    Products,    University    of 
Minnesota,  1915. 


—17— 

Although  such  a  privately  owned  market  is  often  the  most  efficient  form, 
the  financial  possibilities  are  not  usually  sufficient  to  attract  private  capital, 
and  it  is  not  likely  that  this  solution  would  be  possible  in  New  Haven, 
although  the  descriptions  given  above  offer  some  helpful  suggestions.  The 
other  possibility,  that  of  a  market  owned  and  operated  by  the  farmers  them- 
selves, has  been  tried  out  in  at  least  two  cities,  viz.,  Louisville,  Kentucky, 
and  Providence,  Rhode  Island.  The  Louisville  market  has  been  described 
as  follows:1 

"The  public  market  in  Louisville  is  a  private  stock  company,  known  as 
the  Gardeners'  and  Farmers'  Market  Company,  90  per  cent  of  the  stock 
being  owned  by  truck  farmers  around  Louisville.  The  market  master 
receives  a  salary  of  $1,500  per  annum.  .  .  .  Unlike  many  markets  the 
prices  of  the  booths  are  not  set,  but  booths  are  sold  at  auction  each  year. 
There  are  between  500  and  600  booths.  Between  300  and  400  farmers  use 
the  market  daily,  and  from  all  appearances  the  commission  men  and  produce 
dealers  are  friendly  to  the  market,  which  receives  no  shipments  from  other 
communities." 

Providence  has  the  most  interesting  and  important  example  of  a  market 
owned  and  operated  by  the  farmers  themselves.  Formerly  space  was  allotted 
by  the  city  to  farmers  in  the  middle  of  the  wholesale  produce  section,  but 
owing  to  dissatisfaction  with  the  city  management,  the  farmers  decided  to 
have  their  own  market  place.  They  bought  cooperatively  a  large  lot  of  land 
about  one  mile  from  the  previous  location,  and  although  there  were  some 
who  believed  that  it  would  be  unsatisfactory  to  locate  at  such  a  distance 
from  the  produce  section,  it  appears  that  trade  has  followed  the  market,  and 
that  there  is  no  particular  disadvantage  in  being  separated  from  the  food 
trade  section.  The  farmers  are  incorporated  and  their  dues  of  $43.00  per 
year  pay  interest  on  their  mortgage  and  allow  enough  to  put  into  a  sinking 
fund  to  ultimately  pay  off  the  debt. 

This  market  is  an  open  one,  except  that  a  few  sheds  have  been  built  for 
the  largest  growers.  The  market  place  is  laid  off  in  spaces  whose  dimen- 
sions are  n  by  22  feet,  and  each  member  is  assigned  to  a  space.  There 
is  but  little  choice  in  the  locations,  because  the  market  is  laid  out  with 
streets  running  between  the  rows  of  spaces,  and  the  hucksters  and  retail 
merchants  who  buy  in  the  market  are  kept  moving  through  these  streets. 

No  provision  is  made  in  this  market  for  direct  sale  to  consumers  and  the 
managers  do  not  believe  that  such  a  thing  is  feasible.  It  is  roughly  esti- 
mated that  about  60  per  cent  of  the  goods  sold  in  this  market  goes  to 
hucksters,  some  of  whom  sell  direct  to  consumers,  whereas  others  sell  at 
wholesale  to  small  retail  stores ;  the  remainder  goes  to  the  regular  produce 
commission  men  or  wholesalers  and  to  large  retailers  and  boarding  houses 
who  send  wagons  to  market.  An  interesting  feature  of  this  market  is  that 
farmers  sell  a  large  amount  of  produce  which  they  do  not  themselves 
produce;  they  buy  such  commodities  as  sweet  potatoes  and  onions  which 
are  not  raised  near  Providence,  and  in  this  way  they  become  wholesale 
dealers  to  a  certain  extent. 


1  The  American  City,  February,  1913. 


There  are  204  members  of  the  Association  which  owns  and  operates  the 
market  place.  It  is  estimated  that  40  per  cent  of  these  growers  are  Italians, 
20  per  cent  Americans,  20  per  cent  Portuguese,  10  per  cent  Armenians,  3 
per  cent  Scandinavians  and  7  per  cent  Greeks,  Turks,  and  miscellaneous. 
The  American  growers,  however,  are  by  far  the  heaviest  producers,  and 
control  probably  75  per  cent  of  the  produce  sold.  It  has  been  found  that 
many  of  the  foreigners  are  good  cooperators,  especially  the  Italians;  the 
Portuguese,  on  the  other  hand,  do  not  work  together  with  the  others  so  well. 

The  spaces  are  covered  with  concrete  to  make  the  market  sanitary ;  horses 
are  unhitched  from  the  wagons  and  the  Association  has  its  own  livery  barn 
where  a  charge  of  25  cents  per  horse  per  day  is  made.  The  market  master, 
who  is  a  pensioned  police  officer,  is  employed  at  $18.00  a  week,  and  he  has 
general  control  of  the  whole  market,  settles  disputes,  etc.  The  market  opens 
as  early  as  three  A.  M.  at  the  height  of  the  season,  and  at  four  or  five 
o'clock  during  other  seasons.  Boston  prices  are  followed  closely  and  furnish 
the  basis  for  prices  in  the  Providence  market.  Telegraphic  advices  are 
received  from  Boston  early  each  morning.  The  Association  has  its  own 
restaurant  on  the  grounds  where  growers  can  get  their  breakfasts. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  MARKETING  OF  BUTTER  AND  EGGS  IN  NEW  HAVEN 
By  H.  BRUCE  PRICE 

I.    THE  WHOLESALE  TRADE 

There  are  five  wholesale  companies  in  New  Haven  which  supply  retailers 
with  butter  and  eggs,  and  one  wholesale  company  in  West  Haven  which 
handles  small  quantities.  However,  the  three  butter  and  egg  wholesale 
dealers  who  are  located  on  George  Street  and  who  specialize  in  these  com- 
modities provide  New  Haven  with  the  greater  part  of  its  supply.  The  other 
two  houses  handle  butter  and  eggs  as  a  side  line  and  hence  do  not  play  an 
important  role  in  their  distribution.  Wholesale  houses  of  New  York,  Spring- 
field, and  other  New  England  cities  sell  some  butter  and  eggs  to  New 
Haven  retailers  but  only  a  small  part  of  the  total  consumption. 

About  ninety-two  or  ninety-three  per  cent  of  the  butter  which  passes 
through  the  New  Haven  wholesale  channels  is  "centralizer  creamery."  This 
is  butter  which  is  manufactured  in  creameries  of  the  Middle  West  which 
secure  their  cream  largely  from  distant  points.  The  cream  is  often  held 
by  farmers  for  several  days  before  shipping  and  hence  does  not  reach  the 
creameries  in  the  best  of  condition.  The  resulting  butter  is  of  medium 
grade  and  of  standard  quality;  it  is  pasteurized  and  perfectly  wholesome. 
The  country  creamery,  or  "whole-milk,"  butter  which  is  manufactured  in 
a  small  creamery  which  serves  only  a  limited  territory,  and  hence  has  a 
supply  of  good  raw  material,  comprises  only  about  five  per  cent  of  the  butter 
that  the  wholesale  houses  sell.  This  is  the  highest  grade  fancy  butter.  The 


—19— 

remaining  two  per  cent  includes  "process"  or  "renovated"  butter.  This 
is  farm-made  butter  that  has  been  melted  and  cleaned  and  reworked  to  make 
it  palatable,  and  this  is  the  poorest  grade  of  butter.  Oleomargarine  is  used 
in  very  small  quantities  and  constitutes  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  one  per 
cent  of  the  total  amount  of  butter  sold  in  New  Haven;  this  is  used  primarily 
by  the  hotels  and  restaurants. 

The  significant  feature  of  the  New  Haven  butter  trade  is  the  large 
amount  of  the  medium  grade  butter  which  is  consumed  and  the  small 
amounts  of  high  grade,  low  grade,  and  butter  substitutes.  In  former,  less 
prosperous  years,  the  consumption  of  oleomargarine  was  greater  than  at 
present,  but  according  to  the  produce  dealers  it  has  never  been  extensively 
used  as  a  substitute  for  butter.  This  is  also  true  of  process  butter.  In  its 
small  consumption  of  high  grade  butter,  New  Haven  does  not  differ 
materially  from  most  other  large  cities,  which  use  centralizer  butter  in  large 
quantities.  This  is  not  true  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  however,  which 
demand  the  best  country-creamery  product.  Dealers  say  that  the  amount 
of  high  quality  butter  consumed  in  New  Haven  has  decreased  rather  than 
increased  during  recent  years.  A  New  Haven  retail  merchant  who  has  sold 
butter  in  New  Haven  for  thirty  years  and  who  sells  nothing  but  a  high 
grade  product,  states  that  he  is  selling  less  than  half  as  much  butter  as  in 
former  years  because  consumers  prefer  the  cheaper  grades.  A  wholesale 
company  which  formerly  took  the  entire  output  of  a  large  creamery  in 
New  York  State  is  now  selling  centralizer  butter  exclusively  because  the 
demand  for  this  high  grade  fell  off.  The  rising  prices  of  butter  in  recent 
years  doubtless  account  for  this  change  in  demand.  Furthermore,  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  city's  population  is  really  able  to  distinguish  high 
from  medium  quality  butter. 


SOURCE  OF  WHOLESALE  SUPPLY 

New  Haven  is  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  the  West  for  its  supply 
of  butter  and  eggs,  owing  to  the  limited  production  in  New  England.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  Connecticut  henneries  provide  fresh  eggs  which  command 
fancy  prices,  and  they  also  provide  considerable  quantities  during  the  spring 
and  summer ;  likewise  the  dairies  and  creameries  supply  some  butter. 
Locally  produced  butter  and  eggs  are  commonly  sold  direct  to  the  retail 
store  or  to  the  consumer,  and  constitute  an  insignificant  part  of  the  supply. 
Although  the  New  Haven  wholesalers  buy  some  butter  and  eggs  in  New 
York  and  Chicago,  they  buy  the  bulk  of  their  supply  direct  from  creameries 
and  egg  shippers  in  the  West.  The  small  quantities  purchased  in  the  open 
markets  at  New  York  or  Chicago  are  usually  to  meet  temporary  conditions, 
although  some  large  purchases  are  made  in  Chicago  for  storage  purposes. 
Some  goods  are  also  bought  through  Chicago  brokers. 

Practically  all  of  the  butter  comes  direct  from  the  western  creameries. 
As  in  other  cities,  the  wholesalers  keep  in  direct  touch  with  these  creameries, 
and,  in  some  instances,  contract  to  take  the  whole  output  of  a  creamery. 
This  policy  is  particularly  well  adapted  to  buying  centralizer  butter  because 
it  is  consumed  in  such  large  quantities  in  New  Haven.  In  most  cases,  how- 


2O 

ever,  a  wholesale  company  takes  only  a  part  of  any  one  creamery's  output, 
but  buys  from  a  number  of  them.  The  centralizer  butter  comes  from  the 
Middle  Western  states  of  Iowa,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Nebraska,  and  Minnesota ; 
while  the  whole-milk  creamery  butter  comes  largely  from  New  York 
creameries,  and  is  handled  in  an  important  way  by  only  one  New  Haven 
produce  company. 

The  sources  and  methods  of  buying  eggs  are  similar  to  those  of  buying 
butter.  The  Connecticut  egg  producers  find  an  outlet  for  their  surplus  pro- 
duction during  the  flush  season  through  the  New  England  butter  and  egg 
wholesalers,  but  otherwise  they  sell  direct  to  merchants  and  consumers; 
small  quantities,  as  has  been  suggested,  are  bought  in  New  York  City;  but 
the  chief  source  of  supply  is  the  Middle  West.  A  considerable  part  of  this 
western  supply  is  bought  through  Chicago  brokers  but  the  principal  part 
is  bought  direct  from  "egg-packers"  in  Michigan,  Illinois,  Indiana  and 
other  heavy  egg-producing  states. 

Early  in  the  producing  season,  in  February  or  the  first  part  of  March,  the 
wholesalers  get  into  communication  with  egg-packers  either  through  per- 
sonal representatives,  through  correspondence,  or  both.  They  begin  in  the 
South  Central  section,  in  Tennessee  or  Kentucky,  some  starting  as  far 
South  as  Alabama,  and  gradually  work  northward  as  the  spring  opens  and 
the  laying  begins.  Wholesalers  are  particularly  busy  at  the  opening  of  the 
season,  for  the  spring  eggs  are  the  choice  product  for  cold  storage,  since 
they  have  been  exposed  to  neither  extreme  heat  nor  cold.  Recent  studies1 
show  that  of  the  total  storage  receipts  41.9  per  cent  of  eggs  are  placed  in 
storage  in  April,  25  per  cent  in  May,  and  12.5  'in  June,  approximately  80 
per  cent  going  into  storage  during  the  three  spring  months. 

It  is  of  interest  to  know  that  the  quality  of  eggs  varies  from  one  section 
of  the  country  to  another,  depending  upon  the  climate,  soil,  nature  of  food, 
and  the  methods  of  producers.  An  expert  egg  buyer  can  often  name  the 
district  from  which  an  egg  has  come  by  merely  looking  at  it.  For  this 
reason,  an  egg  buyer  can  depend  upon  the  quality  of  the  eggs  from  a  given 
section  of  the  country  and  does  not  necessarily  need  a  representative  to 
examine  them  before  purchasing,  although  there  are  advantages  in  having  a 
travelling  representative  during  the  heavy  producing  season. 

METHODS  OF  WHOLESALE  PURCHASES  AND  SALES 
New  Haven  is  the  distributing  point  for  a  small  territory  and  consequently 
has  no  organized  produce  market  with  a  market  quotation ;  such  butter  and 
eggs  as  wholesalers  buy  are  therefore  purchased  on  the  basis  of  the  quota- 
tion of  some  other  market.  There  is  no  fixed  method  of  price  determination 
among  the  wholesalers  of  New  Haven;  the  price  basis  for  each  transaction 
is  determined  by  the  circumstances,  and  by  the  desires  of  buyer  and  seller. 
Butter  is  frequently  bought  from  western  creameries  on  the  basis  of  the 
Chicago  quotation,  and  occasionally  the  Elgin  quotation  is  used ;  but  it  is 
more  common  to  use  the  New  York  price,  which  is  really  the  basic  factor 
for  New  Haven  prices. 


1  Weld,  The  Marketing  of  Farm  Products,  p.  148. 


The  methods  of  determining  the  price  of  eggs  bought  from  western  packers 
are  likewise  varied.  Sometimes  the  Chicago  quotation  is  used,  sometimes 
agreements  are  made  quite  independent  of  any  given  market  price,  but 
generally  the  New  York  price  is  the  determining  factor. 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  many  factors  affecting  the 
price  which  a  New  Haven  wholesale  company  will  pay  a  western  shipper. 
There  is  the  question  of  the  prices  in  different  markets.  Normally  the  New 
York  price  is  higher  than  the  Chicago  price  by  an  amount  equal  to  the 
freight  charges  from  Chicago  to  New  York;  but  market  conditions  may 
be  such  as  to  throw  the  markets  out  of  line,  i.  e.,  the  New  York  price  may 
be  higher  or  lower  than  the  Chicago  price  plus  the  cost  of  transportation. 
If  the  New  York  price  is  low,  western  shippers  will  try  to  sell  on  the  basis 
of  the  Chicago  quotation  and  buyers  will  prefer  the  New  York  quotation, 
in  which  case  the  eastern  buyer  and  the  western  shipper  may  agree  upon  a 
price  more  or  less  independent  of  either  quotation.  Where  a  wholesaler 
agrees  to  take  the  entire  butter  output  of  a  creamery,  the  price  basis  is 
definitely  determined  so  that  there  is  no  inconvenience  from  the  above 
conditions,  but  little  of  the  butter  and  none  of  the  eggs  are  purchased  by 
contract,  and  the  price  basis  must  be  determined  for  each  transaction.  Con- 
sequently, buyers  and  shippers  are  alert  to  take  advantage  of  price  fluctua- 
tions, and  hence  different  methods  for  determining  prices  are  used. 

Moreover,  there  is  the  question  of  whether  the  goods  are  bought  f.o.b. 
shipping  point  or  "delivered"  in  New  Haven.  Either  the  buyer  or  shipper 
must  pay  the  transportation  costs  and  bear  the  risks  of  transportation. 
When  they  are  bought  f.o.b.  shipping  point  the  receiver  pays  the  freight 
charges  and  the  price  paid  the  shipper  must  necessarily  be  lower  than  a 
"delivered"  price  by  an  amount  equal  to  the  freight  costs,  although  the 
final  cost  to  the  receiver  is  the  same  in  either  case.  The  method  varies  with 
different  buyers — some  buy  exclusively  on  the  basis  of  a  "delivered"  New 
Haven  price,  while  others  buy  either  f.o.b.  or  "delivered"  to  suit  the  shipper. 
In  general,  about  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  butter  is  bought  on  the  New 
Haven  "delivered"  basis  while  eggs  are  purchased  almost  exclusively  by  this 
method. 

All  freight  from  the  West  is  shipped  to  New  Haven  on  a  "through" 
Boston  rate  so  that  the  New  Haven  "delivered"  price  compares  favorably 
with  the  Boston  and  is  higher  than  the  New  York  "delivered"  price.  The 
difference  between  the  freight  rate  for  butter  from  Chicago  to  New  York 
and  from  Chicago  to  Boston  is  six  cents  per  hundred  weight  in  carload 
quantities,  or  one-sixteenth  of  one  cent  per  pound,  and  the  difference  in  the 
rate  on  eggs  in  carlots  is  correspondingly  small.  Consequently,  the  New 
Haven  "delivered"  butter  and  egg  prices  are  only  slightly  higher  than  the 
"delivered"  prices  at  New  York  City. 

The  wholesale  trade  uses  the  customary  means  of  reaching  the  retail 
stores,  namely,  salesmen,  who  visit  the  retail  merchants  twice  a  week. 

An  unusual  practice  has  developed,  as  a  result  of  keen  competition  among 
the  wholesale  companies,  of  making  written  contracts  .with  retailers  to 
supply  their  butter  and  eggs  during  the  fall  and  winter  months  when  storage 
products  are  being  used.  The  wholesalers  approach  the  retail  merchants  in 


22 

April,  and  offer  to  contract  to  provide  them  with  whatever  storage  butter 
and  eggs  they  believe  that  they  can  use  between  September  i  and  February 
i  at  a  given  price.  The  retailer  in  return  agrees  to  take  one-fifth  of  the 
supply  each  month.  Contracts  are  also  made  for  the  July  and  August  sup- 
ply, but  this  is  unusual,  and  is  confined  to  the  stores  which  want  to  be  sure 
of  a  good  quality  for  the  summer  trade. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  what  part  of  the  butter  and  egg  supply  is  sold 
under  contract,  but  it  appears  to  be  considerable.  One  wholesaler  estimates 
that  seventy  per  cent  of  the  butter  and  eggs  which  he  sells  from  September 
i  to  February  i  are  sold  in  this  manner,  and  since  only  one  wholesaler  does 
not  follow  the  contract  policy,  it  is  probable  that  more  than  one-half  of  the 
New  Haven  supply,  during  these  five  months,  is  sold  to  retailers  under 
contract. 

Neither  the  wholesalers  nor  the  retailers  are  enthusiastic  over  the  policy 
of  contracts,  but  as  long  as  it  exists,  each  wholesaler  (except  one)  feels 
under  obligation  to  follow  it  in  order  to  be  sure  of  his  share  of  business. 
The  Wholesale  Produce  Dealers'  Association  of  Connecticut  at  its  annual 
meeting  about  twelve  years  ago  tried  to  secure  an  agreement  among  its 
members  to  discontinue  the  policy,  but  as  one  important  wholesale  company 
refused  to  consider  it,  the  movement  came  to  naught. 

The  advantage  to  the  retailer  of  buying  under  contract  is  that  he  is  sure 
of  the  amount  of  goods  contracted  for ;  if  prices  rise  above  the  contract 
price  as  they  have  during  1916-17,  he  will  also  realize  a  profit;  but  if  they 
fall,  he  experiences  a  loss.  Retail  merchants,  on  the  whole,  are  of  the 
opinion  that  they  gain  nothing  by  contracts.  One  merchant  has  expressed 
their  attitude  in  the  statement,  "We  don't  care  to  make  contracts,  but  the 
wholesalers  come  around  in  the  spring  and  talk  us  into  it." 

The  chief  advantage  accrues  to  the  wholesale  houses  which  are  thereby 
protected  against  market  fluctuations  and  are  guaranteed  a  small  but  sure 
profit  Moreover,  they  are  certain  of  disposing  of  a  definite  quantity  of 
their  cold-storage  goods  and  have  an  outlet  for  other  products  which  they 
may  handle.  There  is,  however,  some  difficulty  in  securing  an  observance 
of  contracts.  No  charges  have  been  made  against  the  wholesale  companies 
for  failing  to  meet  such  agreements,  but  there  is  complaint  that  the  retail 
stores  do  not  observe  them  closely.  It  is  charged  that  when  prices  fall,  a 
few  merchants  refuse  to  take  the  goods  as  agreed ;  and  since  no  margin 
is  required  of  them  when  the  contract  is  made,  the  only  recourse  of  the 
wholesaler  is  to  take  his  loss  and  refuse  to  do  business  with  the  merchant 
in  the  future.  When  prices  rise,  such  merchants  resort  to  various  subtle 
devices  to  secure  more  goods  than  their  contracts  call  for.  It  is  for  these 
reasons  that  one  wholesale  company  refuses  to  contract  with  merchants ; 
it  believes  that  the  possible  gains  are  more  than  offset  by  the  increased 
accounting  costs  and  the  annoyance.  Butter  and  eggs,  however,  are  only  a 
side  line  with  this  company,  so  that  it  can  follow  such  a  course;  whereas 
a  large  wholesale  company  is  almost  forced  to  it  when  its  competitors  are 
making  contracts. 


—23— 

RETAIL  STORES 

Any  analysis  of  the  retail  distribution  of  butter  and  eggs  must  consider 
the  three  classes  of  retail  stores,  namely,  small  stores,  large  stores,  and 
chain  stores.  This  is  necessary  because  the  business  methods  vary  with 
these  different  types.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  much  of  the  New  Haven 
butter  and  egg  supply  passes  through  the  New  Haven  wholesale  houses. 
There  are,  however,  two  other  sources  of  supply  of  which  the  retailers  avail 
themselves,  namely,  the  farmers,  and  wholesale  dealers  in  other  cities. 

Nearly  all  of  the  dairy  and  poultry  products  of  the  small  retail  stores  is 
bought  from  the  New  Haven  wholesalers.  Their  volume  of  business  is  so 
small  that  it  does  not  pay  them  to  buy  from  New  York  or  other  wholesale 
markets.  Most  of  them,  however,  do  secure  their  strictly  fresh  eggs  direct 
from  producers  who  are  either  general  farmers  or  local  poultry  specialists. 
In  the  case  of  butter,  the  nature  of  the  product  and  the  location  of  the 
supply  make  it  unprofitable  to  attempt  to  try  buying  direct,  so  they  are 
content  with  the  local  wholesale  service.  It  is  somewhat  different  for 
fresh  eggs,  which  are  produced  on  a  small  scale  by  local  farmers  or  "hen- 
neries," and  which  are  delivered  to  the  stores  by  the  producers.  Or  if  they 
are  produced  at  too  great  distance,  they  may  be  shipped  in  small  quantities 
by  express  or  parcel  post. 

The  large  retail  stores  are  in  a  better  position  to  take  advantage  of 
sources  other  than  New  Haven  wholesale  houses.  These  stores  send  buyers 
to  New  York  two  or  three  times  a  week  to  buy  such  supplies  as  can  be 
obtained  to  advantage  in  that  market.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  New 
Haven  wholesale  price  is  such  that  it  pays  these  stores  to  buy  butter  and 
eggs  in  New  York;  but  these  purchases  constitute  only  a  small  amount  as 
compared  with  the  total  amount  purchased  from  New  Haven  wholesale 
houses. 

The  Springfield,  Bridgeport,  Waterbury,  and  New  York  markets  offer 
severe  competition  to  the  New  Haven  wholesale  companies,  so  their  prices 
must  be  reasonable:  but  the  method  of  determining  the  New  Haven  whole- 
sale price  sometimes  places  this  market  out  of  line  with  New  York.  The 
customary  method  is  to  make  the  New  Haven  wholesale  price  of  butter 
and  eggs  on  the  basis  of  the  New  York  quotation  of  the  preceding  day. 
For  example,  a  wholesale  company  purchases  a  lot  of  butter  in  New  York 
at  30  cents  per  Ib.  The  butter  is  shipped  to  New  Haven  that  evening  and 
is  sold  in  New  Haven  the  next  day  on  the  basis  of  the  purchase  price  of 
the  previous  day.  For  the  small  stores  this  is  satisfactory,  for  they  usually 
follow  the  quotations  of  the  New  York  newspapers,  which  give  the  quota- 
tions of  the  previous  day ;  besides  they  are  not  in  a  position  to  buy  in 
New  York  if  the  New  Haven  price  is  higher  than  New  York,  allowing  for 
transportation  cost.  But  it  is  different  with  the  large  retail  store.  Suppose 
that  the  New  York  quotation  falls  to  28  cents.  The  large  retail  store  which 
keeps  in  touch  with  the  New  York  market  will  not  be  willing  to  pay  the 
New  Haven  wholesaler  30  cents  plus  transportation  costs  when  it  already 
has  a  representative  in  New  York  who  can  buy  at  28  cents  plus  transporta- 
tion costs,  and  unless  the  New  Haven  wholesale  firms  meet  this  New  York 
price,  it  is  clearly  to  the  advantage  of  the  store  to  buy  in  New  York. 


—24— 

This  places  the  New  Haven  wholesale  houses  in  a  peculiar  position.  When 
the  New  York  prices  rise,  it  is  difficult  to  raise  prices  on  goods  purchased 
on  the  previous  day,  because  the  small  stores  follow  the  quotations  of  the 
previous  day  and  will  resist  the  rise ;  and  when  the  prices  in  New  York 
fall,  the  large  retail  stores  are  ready  to  take  advantage  of  it.  With  such 
keen  competition  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  high  prices  are  the  result 
of  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the  New  Haven  butter  and  egg  wholesalers. 

The  large  stores  depend  upon  direct  purchases  from  producers  for  their 
strictly  fresh  eggs,  which  are  usually  delivered  by  producers  in  person. 
Some  of  these  stores  also  buy  their  high  grade  creamery  butter  direct  from 
a  Connecticut  or  Vermont  creamery.  It  seems  to  be  not  a  question  of 
getting  this  butter  cheaper,  but  of  receiving  the  desired  high  grade  for  a 
special  class  of  trade. 

The  general  policy  of  the  chain  stores  is  to  use  their  own  organization 
for  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  butter  and  eggs.  Each  chain  store  com- 
pany has  its  own  purchasing  department,  which  buys  from  packers  and 
creameries  in  the  same  manner  as  the  wholesale  companies,  and  has  storage 
and  distributing  plants  at  Boston,  New  York  or  other  points  of  advantage. 
From  these  central  plants  goods  are  sent  to  each  store  in  such  quantities  and 
at  such  intervals  as  are  convenient.  In  this  way,  the  chain  stores  are  inde- 
pendent of  the  wholesale  companies  and  do  not  rely  upon  them  for  their 
supplies.  There  is  one  important  exception  in  New  Haven  of  a  chain  of 
large  stores  which  relies  almost  exclusively  upon  the  New  Haven  wholesale 
companies  for  its  butter  and  eggs,  but  aside  from  this  company  practically 
all  of  the  butter  and  eggs  handled  by  the  chain  stores  comes  through  their 
own  wholesale  organizations. 

These  chain  stores  buy  in  large  quantities  at  prices  as  favorable  as  the 
largest  wholesale  company ;  where  they  have  a  number  of  stores  and  a 
large  trade,  they  can  ship  in  carlot  quantities  and  hence  receive  as  low  trans- 
portation rates  as  a  wholesale  company.  So  that  they  are  operating  at  high 
efficiency  and  afford  keen  competition  to  the  rest  of  the  distribution  system. 
One  system  alone  has  fifteen  stores  in  New  Haven  and  there  are  several 
other  companies  each  with  a  number  of  stores  and  doing  a  large  business, 
which,  on  the  whole,  is  a  very  important  consideration  in  the  distribution 
of  butter  and  eggs. 

The  selling  of  butter  and  eggs  in  prints  and  cartons  is  of  interest.  The 
tendency  is  to  sell  eggs  in  cartons,  since  they  are  more  conveniently  handled 
in  this  way.  Part  of  these  are  put  in  cartons  by  the  wholesale  companies 
and  part  of  them  are  put  up  by  the  retail  store.  In  either  case  it  means  an 
additional  cost  of  perhaps  one  cent  per  dozen.  Butter  is  generally  sold  from 
tubs;  one  retailer  estimates  that  90  per  cent  of  the  New  Haven  butter 
is  sold  in  this  way ;  although  this  is  probably  a  high  estimate,  the  amount 
of  print  butter  is  relatively  small.  Many  stores,  including  the  chain  stores, 
do  not  handle  print  butter  at  all. 

Prints  are  sold  under  both  wholesalers'  and  retailers'  brands.  Two  or 
three  of  the  print  butters  are  nationally  advertised  brands,  but  there  are 
many  well-known  local  brands  put  out  by  the  local  wholesalers.  All  of  the 


—25— 

well-known  brands  are  centralized  butter.  The  retail  stores  which  buy  their 
butter  direct  from  a  creamery  usually  have  their  prints  in  wrappers  bearing 
their  own  brands,  although  some  of  the  highest  quality  butter  in  New  Haven 
bears  the  name  of  the  creamery  which  makes  it.  The  opinion  of  the  trade 
is  that  the  amount  of  print  butter  has  not  increased  relatively  during  the 
last  three  or  four  years,  which  is  probably  due  to  the  higher  price  of  butter 
during  these  years. 

RETAIL  P^JCES 

Any  study  of  retail  marketing  is  incomplete  without  an  analysis  of  retail 
prices,  which  shows  comparative  prices  in  different  localities  and  the  approxi- 
mate margin  of  profit  taken  by  retail  middlemen.  In  order  to  secure 
adequate  data,  retail  prices  of  the  best  quality  of  butter  and  eggs  were 
obtained  from  thirty  stores  in  New  Haven  on  the  morning  of  March  2. 
These  included  representative  stores  in  the  principal  sections  of  the  city. 

TABLE  No.  i 

Retail  Butter  Prices  in  New  Haven 

Print  Tub 

Location  Range  Average  Range         Average 

City   Point    none  48  none  45 

State   St 40-50  46%  42-45  43-i 

Fair   Haven    45~48  47  40-46  43^ 

Dixwell   Ave 45~52  50  42-46  44 /^ 

West   Chapel    none  50  42-45  44 

Miscellaneous     45-55  47/^2  41-48  44 

Average    47.8+  44+ 

Prices  were  secured  for  both  print  and  tub  butter.  The  "range"  represents 
the  difference  of  prices  between  stores,  and  not  the  range  of  prices  for  a 
given  grade  or  for  a  given  store.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  a  few  instances 
there  is  no  range— that  the  same  price  was  charged  by  all  stores  for  their 
highest  grade  butter.  Moreover,  the  greatest  range  is  found  on  State  Street 
and  in  the  miscellaneous  class  which  includes  all  stores  that  represent  no 
distinct  retail  section,  and  are  not  included  in  any  one  of  the  other  five 
groups.  This  greater  range  is  due  to  the  greater  variety  in  the  class  of 
stores.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  the  lowest  average  prices  are  found 
on  State  Street,  where  the  largest  stores  are  located. 

TABLE  No.  2 
Comparison  of  Retail  Butter  Prices  in  New  Haven  and  other  Cities 

Print  Tub 

Location  Range  Average  Range          Average 

New   Haven   40-55  47.8  40-48  44+ 

Springfield    45-50  48.5  41-46  43-6 

Hartford    47-53  49.4  43-48  45 

Bridgeport     45-50  46.5  42-46  44 

New   York    47-52  48.5  43-47  45 


—26— 

Table  No.  2  gives  the  retail  butter  prices  of  representative  stores  in  cities 
located  near  New  Haven  and  which  were  secured  on  the  same  day  as  the 
New  Haven  prices.  There  is  a  remarkably  small  difference  between  the 
average  price  of  both  print  and  tub  butter  for  these  cities, — less  than  2  cents. 
Moreover,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  New  Haven  price  is  second  lowest, 
Bridgeport  having  the  lowest  price  for  print,  and  Springfield  the  lowest 
price  for  tub  butter. 

The  reader  will  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  securing  a  satisfactory  standard 
by  which  to  judge  prices.  The  ideal  method  would  be  to  secure  the  prices 
on  the  same  grade  commodity,  but  as  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the  exact 
quality,  and  since  the  quality  varies  so  greatly  among  stores  and  among  cities, 
this  method  is  impossible.  The  method  used,  of  securing  the  price  of  the 
highest  grade  sold,  seems  the  most  practicable.  And  while  it  is  open  to 
criticism  on  the  ground  that  it  does  not  consider  a  common  standard  of 
quality,  it  has  nevertheless  provided  a  fairly  definite  basis  to  compare  price 
levels.  For  example,  it  is  well  known  that  New  York  uses  a  higher  grade 
of  butter  than  New  Haven,  which  the  difference  of  nearly  a  cent  per  pound 
would  indicate  in  the  above  table.  A  study  of  price  levels  in  New  Haven 
shows  that  the  differences  in  prices  for  the  same  brand  of  butter,  for  example 
Gold  Medal  or  Glenwood  prints,  correspond  closely  to  the  differences  found 
in  Table  i. 

TABLE  No.  3 
Retail  Egg  Price  in  New  Haven 

Strictly  Fresh  Fresh  Western 

Location  Range  Average  Range  Average 


State  St 42-60  51.4  39-45  41 

West  Chapel 55-60  58^  45-50  47^ 

Dixwell   Ave 45-6o  54  39~50  45^3 

City  Point  50-55  52^  none  45 

Fair   Haven    45-55  50  30-40  45^ 

Miscellaneous    38-60  53  38-50  43^ 

Average    


Table  No.  3  shows  the  retail  prices  of  strictly  fresh  and  western  fresh 
eggs  in  New  Haven  on  March  2.  The  range,  as  in  table  i,  refers  to  the 
difference  in  price  between  stores.  There  is  a  wide  range  in  egg  prices, 
particularly  for  strictly  fresh,  due  to  a  difference  in  the  quality  of  eggs 
,and  to  a  difference  in  the  class  of  stock;  but  the  average  prices  for  the 
strictly  fresh  grade  of  the  different  sections  of  the  city  vary  closely  with 
the  average  prices  of  western  fresh,  so  that  the  exceptionally  wide  ranges 
for  strictly  fresh  eggs  do  not  vitiate  the  results.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
the  wide  spread  of  approximately  ten  cents  between  strictly  fresh  and  west- 
ern fresh  eggs.  At  the  time  the  study  was  made,  western  fresh  eggs  which 
were  coming  from  the  South  and  South  West,  were  being  marketed  in 
comparatively  large  quantities,  while  the  strictly  fresh  eggs  which  are  pro- 
duced primarily  in  Connecticut,  were  still  scare  with  comparatively  high 
prices. 


—27— 

TABLE  No.  4 

Comparison  of  New  Haven  Retail  Egg  Price  with  prices  in  Neighboring 

Cities 

Strictly  Fresh  Western  Fresh 

Name                                                     Range         Average  Range  Average 

New   Haven   38-60            53.3  38-50  43-5 

Springfield    49-60            53.3  40-48  43.6 

Hartford    55-6o            57  45~5o  48.7 

Bridgeport     40-60            50  4i~50  44-8 

New   York    38-55            45-3  37~43  39-2 


A  comparison  of  prices  in  the  above  table  discloses  a  wide  variation  in 
the  average  price  of  eggs  in  different  cities :  highest  prices  are  found  in  Hart- 
ford and  lowest  prices  in  New  York,  with  a  difference  of  11.7  cents  for 
strictly  fresh  eggs  and  9.5  cents  for  western  fresh.  A  close  similarity  exists 
in  the  New  Haven  and  Springfield  prices,  although  the  Springfield  stores 
grade  eggs  according  to  color,  which  gives  them  a  better  appearance  than 
the  eggs  in  the  New  Haven  stores,  where  little  attention  is  paid  to  color. 

Among  the  many  reasons  given  for  the  high  cost  of  living  is  the  popular 
idea  that  it  is  due  to  the  profits  of  the  middleman.  The  following  table 
shows  the  part  which  New  Haven  retailers  and  wholesale  houses  have  in 
New  Haven  butter  and  egg  prices : 

TABLE  No.  5 
Comparison  of  Retail  and  Wholesale  Prices  for  Butter  and  Eggs 

New  Haven  New  Haven  New  York 

Retail  Prices  Wholesale  Price  Wholesale  Price 

(Mar.  2,  1917)  (Mar.  2,  1917)  (Mar.  i,  1917) 

Butter    44      cts.  39  @  40  cts.  38  @  39  cts. 

Eggs    43^  cts.  35  @  36  cts.  33  @  34  cts. 

The  retail  stores'  margin  is  4^  to  5  cents  on  butter,  and  8  cents  on  eggs. 
This  may  appear  as  a  large  profit,  but  when  we  consider  that  the  cost  of 
conducting  a  retail  store  is  18  to  20  per  cent  of  its  sales,  the  margins  taken 
by  these  retailers  do  not  appear  to  be  excessive.  Besides,  these  prices  were 
obtained  during  a  period  of  falling  prices,  and  the  tendency  is  for  retail 
prices  to  lag  behind  wholesale  prices ;  and  therefore  the  margin  between 
retail  and  wholesale  prices  was  greater  than  under  normal  conditions. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  compare  the  New  Haven  wholesale  price  and  the 
New  York  wholesale  price.  The  New  York  wholesale  price  for  March  I 
is  taken  because  it  is  the  basis  of  the  New  Haven  price  on  March  2.  It 
should  be  noted  that  the  New  Haven  wholesale  price  for  butter  is  one  cent 
above  the  New  York  wholesale  price,  but  the  New  York  quotation  is  for 
butter  sold  in  large  quantities  by  commission  houses  or  wholesale  receivers 
to  jobbers,  who  add  about  one  and  a  half  cents  a  pound  in  selling  to  retailers. 
So  there  is  very  little  difference  between  the  prices  paid  by  New  Haven  and 
New  York  retailers  for  their  butter.  Although  the  table  shows  a  difference 
of  two  cents  in  the  New  Haven  and  New  York  wholesale  prices  of  eggs, 
the  New  York  quotation  is  again  for  wholesale  lots  to  jobbers,  and  the  price 
to  retailers  is  from  one  cent  to  one  and  a  half  cents  higher,  making  the 


—28— 

price  paid  by  retailers  approximately  the  same  in  the  two  cities.  The  New 
York  quotations  shown  in  the  table  are  really  the  prices  that  New  Haven 
wholesalers  have  to  pay  in  that  city,  indicating  that  the  margins  taken  by 
New  Haven  wholesalers,  out  of  which  have  to  be  paid  freight,  cartage,  and 
marketing  costs,  are  very  small  on  both  butter  and  eggs,  and  account  for  a 
small  increment  of  final  retail  prices. 

We  must  conclude  then  that  New  Haven  butter  and  egg  prices  are  not 
exorbitant  when  compared  with  prices  in  neighboring  cities ;  and  that  the 
service  is  rendered  as  cheaply  as  may  be  expected.  The  New  Haven  retail 
stores  and  wholesale  produce  houses  are  not  charging  excessive  prices  for 
their  service.  There  is  also  every  indication  that  there  is  free  competition 
among  the  New  Haven  houses,  rather  than  any  conspiracy  to  maintain  prices. 

COLD  STORAGE 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  New  Haven  wholesale  produce  companies 
buy  butter  and  eggs  to  hold  in  storage;  but  only  a  part  is  held  in  New 
Haven  because  of  limited  storage  facilities.  Only  one  wholesale  company 
has  cold  storage  capacity  for  all  of  its  produce,  and  has  but  a  limited  amount 
of  space  to  rent  to  others.  Another  wholesale  company  has  cold  storage 
space  for  about  two-thirds  of  its  supply,  while  the  other  companies  have 
capacity  for  only  a  few  carloads.  Probably  not  more  than  one-half  of  the 
cold  storage  butter  and  eggs  sold  by  the  New  Haven  wholesale  companies 
is  held  in  New  Haven  storage  facilities.  The  remainder  is  held  in  other 
cities,  like  Chicago,  Buffalo,  and  Springfield,  where  cold  storage  space  can 
be  rented. 

Opinion  is  divided  on  the  question  of  the  desirability  of  more  cold  storage 
facilities  in  New  Haven.  Some  of  those  in  close  touch  with  the  produce 
trade  maintain  that  the  demand  for  storage  space  is  so  small  that  a  public 
cold  storage  plant  would  not  pay.  They  say  that  for  a  short  period  in  the 
autumn  there  is  demand  for  space  for  apples;  that  there  is  some  demand 
for  facilities  for  storing  furs,  meat,  and  general  produce ;  but  that  the 
present  facilities  meet  this  demand  so  well  that  a  public  storage  house  would 
not  pay. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those  who  think  that  a  public  cold  storage 
plant  with  adequate  terminal  facilities  is  desirable  and  would  be  profitable. 
The  manager  of  one  wholesale  company  is  so  sure  that  it  would  be  successful 
that  he  is  willing  to  take  stock  in  such  an  undertaking.  On  the  whole,  New 
Haven  is  without  adequate  storage  capacity,  and  its  terminal  facilities  are 
poor  as  compared  with  those  of  other  cities  of  its  size.  Not  all  of  the 
present  cold  storage  butter  and  eggs  which  are  held  in  other  cities,  however, 
would  come  to  a  New  Haven  cold  storage  plant ;  the  chain  stores  would  not 
utilize  it  to  any  extent  because  they  provide  their  own  storage  facilities, 
But  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  a  small  public  cold  storage  plant  with  good 
terminal  facilities  would  attract  enough  wholesale  produce  companies  and 
retail  stores  to  make  it  a  paying  proposition.  Instead  of  having  the  produce 
stored  in  other  cities  and  then  reshipped  to  New  Haven  to  be  handled  again 
as  at  present,  it  could  be  placed  in  a  New  Haven  storage  plant  and  the  cost 
of  one  handling  would  be  saved. 


—29— 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  MARKETING  OF  MEAT  IN  NEW  HAVEN 
By  R.  E.  BADGER 

In  discussing  this  topic  it  seems  best  to  begin  with  a  brief  discussion  of 
the  slaughtering  and  meat  packing  industry  in  the  United  States,  and  then 
to  take  up  the  wholesale  and  retail  trade  in  New  Haven.  The  reasons  for 
speaking  of  the  packing  industry  are:  first,  that  almost  all  of  New  Haven's 
meat  supply  comes  from  the  large  western  packers,  and  it  will  add  interest 
to  follow  the  meat  from  the  live  animal  to  the  consumer ;  secondly,  there  is 
a  popular  misconception  that  the  western  packers  extort  an  unfair  price 
from  the  consumer  and  that  they  are  responsible  for  the  high  prices  of  meat. 

Turning  then,  to  the  organization  of  the  meat  slaughtering  and  packing 
industry  in  the  United  States,  we  find  that  a  large  part  of  the  business  is 
centered  in  the  hands  of  a  few  such  concerns  as  Swift  &  Co.,  Armour  & 
Co.,  the  Cudahy  Packing  Co.,  etc.  These  concerns  all  carry  on  business 
on  a  large  scale  and  are  capitalized  at  amounts  ranging  from  $5,000,000  to 
$35,000,000.  These  companies  are  independent  of  each  other  in  ownership, 
and  the  Government  has  been  unable  to  discover  evidence  that  they  are 
working  together  to  control  the  prices  of  live  stock  or  meats. 

Large  scale  operation  is  the  necessary  outcome  of  conditions  peculiar  to 
the  meat  packing  industry.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  live  stock  is 
raised  in  the  states  of  Texas,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Wisconsin,  Missouri, 
and  Illinois,  while  the  principal  points  of  consumption  are  in  the  east.  With 
the  introduction  of  the  refrigerator  car  in  the  late  seventies  and  early  eighties 
it  was  found  more  economical  to  slaughter  the  cattle  in  the  west,  and  ship 
to  the  east  the  dressed  meat  and  valuable  byproducts,  rather  than  the  live 
cattle,  which  shrunk  en  route  and  required  careful  attention.  As  a  result, 
the  slaughtering  industry  has  tended  to  become  established  near  the  supply 
of  live  cattle. 

The  industry  has  further  become  localized  in  a  few  large  packing  centers 
such  as  Chicago,  Kansas  City,  Omaha,  St.  Louis,  and  Fort  Worth,  because 
the  complete  utilization  of  byproducts  requires  an  elaborate  plant  which  is 
economically  possible  only  when  a  sufficiently  large  amount  of  business  can 
be  handled.  The  principal  reason,  however,  for  large  scale  operation  lies 
in  the  technical  processes  of  the  industry.  If  one  man  were  to  attempt  to 
dress  steers,  were  he  very  skilled  in  the  operation,  he  might  dress  one  a  day. 
If  157  men  were  used,  as  is  the  case  in  the  large  packing  houses,  each 
specializing  in  some  one  very  small  operation,  these  157  men  can  slaughter 
and  dress  1000  cattle  in  10  hours,  or  an  average  of  6.6  cattle  per  day.  In 
the  former  case  the  cost  would  be  over  $3  a  head,  in  the  latter  case  about 
75  cents  a  head ;  but  the  equipment  and  organization  required  for  the  latter 
process  is  not  economically  possible  unless  a  large  business  can  be  handled. 
Hence  there  has  been  a  growing  tendency  toward  large  scale  operation. 
The  integration  of  the  slaughtering  plants  and  byproducts  plants  brings  a 
further  saving  and  consequently  came  as  a  natural  result.  These  funda- 
mental facts  account  for  the  present  situation  in  the  slaughtering  industry. 


—30— 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  trace  the  actual  operations  performed  in 
transforming  the  live  animal  to  dressed  meat,  but  that  would  be  beyond 
the  scope  of  this  paper.  What  we  are  particularly  interested  in  are  costs, 
and  the  elements  which  constitute  these  costs,  in  the  various  stages  of  this 
transformation. 

The  first  step  in  the  process,  of  course,  is  the  cost  of  transporting  the  live 
animal  to  the  primary  market,  say  Chicago.  This  cost  is  relatively  slight, 
amounting  to  about  50  cents  for  100  pounds,  or  roughly  about  one  half 
cent  per  pound,  for  cattle  shipped  a  distance  of  200  or  300  miles.  (This 
charge  includes  a  commission  for  the  cattle  buyer,  freight  yardage,  feeding, 
etc.)  Hence  there  is  a  very  small  difference  between  the  price  of  cattle 
on  the  farm  and  the  price  quoted  in  the  primary  market,  but  a  price  varying 
somewhat  according  to  the  accessibility  to  this  market.  The  principal  pur- 
chasers of  cattle  in  the  primary  markets  are  the  large  packing  houses  and 
the  principal  source  of  our  supplies  of  fresh  meats  is  the  output  of  these 
houses.  The  next  element  in  cost,  therefore,  is  between  the  live  cattle  price 
and  the  price  to  retailers  for  dressed  meats,  or  in  brief  the  wholesale  price. 
By  way  of  anticipation  it  should  be  said  that  these  large  houses  dispose 
of  their  fresh  meats  through  their  own  branch  houses,  or  commission  houses 
which  they  control.  These  branch  houses  sell  largely  direct  to  retail 
butchers  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  but  sometimes  they  sell  to  jobbers, 
who  in  turn  cater  to  the  retail  trade.  It  is  commonly  thought  that  the 
packer  takes  out  a  very  wide  margin  of  profit  between  the  price  he  pays  for 
cattle  and  the  price  at  which  he  sells  to  the  retailer.  That  this  belief  is 
erroneous  can  be  proved;  in  fact  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  packer 
not  infrequently  sells  the  edible  carcass  at  a  price  lower  than  he  paid  for  the 
live  animal, — because  he  also  gets  returns  for  the  byproducts. 

The  packer,  when  he  buys  cattle,  buys  about  55  per  cent  of  edible  meat 
and  45  per  cent  of  other  material  which  is  of  no  value  for  food  purposes. 
If  this  remaining  45  per  cent  were  not  made  use  of,  it  is  evident  that  the 
edible  meat  would  have  to  sell  at  a  price  182 -per  cent  as  great  as  was  paid 
for  the  live  weight  in  order  to  realize  a  gross  price  equal  to  what  was  paid 
for  the  carcass.  Take  a  1000  pound  steer — only  550  pounds  of  meat  are 
available  for  sale  to  butchers.  If  10  cents  per  pound  is  paid  for  the  steer 
undressed,  18.18  cents  per  pound  would  have  to  be  charged  for  the  dressed 
meat  alone  to  realize  the  $100  paid  for  the  live  steer,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
cost  of  slaughtering  and  marketing.  The  corresponding  "dressing  per  cent" 
for  lambs  is  50,  and  for  hogs,  75. 

In  order  to  see  what  profit  one  packer  makes  on  edible  meat,  let  us  take 
at  random  the  condition  of  the  market  for  the  week  ending  Feb.  24,  1917. 
(The  same  results,  however,  might  be  obtained  from  the  figures  of  any 
other  week.) 

Price  necessary 

(Dressing  ratio)        to  realize  amt. 

Chicago  livestock  market  Per  cent  of          paid  to  farmer  if       Chicago  prices 

dressed  meat  to      only  dressed  meat     actually  quoted 
Grade  Quotations  gross  \vt.  were  usable  by  packers 

Choice  Steers  10.0  55$  18.2  16.0 

Western  Lambs  13.5  50$  27.0  19.0 

Hogs  12.2  75$  16.5  14.5 


From  these  figures  it  may  be  seen  that  the  packing  house  receives  less  for 
the  "actual  edible  meat"  than  was  paid  for  it.  If,  now,  we  were  to  abolish  the 
large  slaughtering  concerns  and  substitute  a  system  of  independent  slaughterers 
spread  over  the  country,  under  which  system  little  or  no  use  could  be  made 
of  a  large  proportion  of  the  byproducts  of  cattle,  would  meat  be  higher  or 
cheaper?  It  is  very  clear  that  the  complete  utilization  of  byproducts,  made 
possible  by  large  packing  companies,  results  in  a  lower  price  for  meat  than 
could  otherwise  be  the  case,  especially  as  all  manufacturing  costs  are  reduced 
to  a  minimum. 

The  packer  must  make  a  profit,  though,  and  does  make  one — for  he  skill- 
fully manufactures  the  various  byproducts  and  realizes  on  these  as  well  as 
the  actual  edible  meat.  The  actual  gross  profit  realized  by  a  packer  differs, 
inasmuch  as  some  lots  or  shipments  realize  more  than  others.  The  gross 
margins  realized  on  nine  lots  of  cattle  as  shown  on  page  71  in  Report 
No.  113  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1916,  "Methods 
and  Costs  of  Marketing  Livestock,"  expressed  as  per  cents  of  total  sales, 
were  as  follows:  8.44;  4.35;  7.64;  8.68;  3.92;  1.86;  6.53;  6.02;  6.53. 
This,  let  it  be  noted,  is  gross  margin.  These  gross  margins  cover  what  was 
realized  on  all  of  the  saleable  products  of  the  cattle,  except  the  more  refined 
byproducts.  Before  the  packer  has  realized  a  net  profit  he  has  still  to 
deduct  the  expenses  of  doing  business.  The  expenses  of  one  large  packing 
house  in  1914  amounted  to  .58  of  a  cent  for  every  pound  of  beef  dressed. 
The  expenses  of  branch  houses  at  that  same  time  were  .52  of  a  cent  for  every 
pound  handled.  From  these  figures  it  may  readily  be  seen  that  no 
exorbitant  profit  is  exacted  by  the  packer. 

What  has  been  said  so  far  is  more  or  less  anticipatory  to  our  main 
object, — a  discussion  of  the  meat  situation  in  New  Haven;  but  it  has  such 
a  vital  connection  with  it  that  to  omit  it  would  be  like  starting  to  read  a 
book  at  the  middle  chapter.  With  the  above  points  in  mind  we  will  now  turn 
to  our  main  subject,  and  examine  the  marketing  of  meat  in  New  Haven 
both  from  the  wholesale  and  retail  side,  and  we  will  seek  to  ascertain  the 
further  spread  in  the  cost  of  meat  due  to  the  amount  taken  out  by  the 
retailer  before  the  meat  finally  reaches  the  consumer. 

THE  WHOLESALE  MEAT  MARKET  IN  NEW  HAVEN 

It  is  rather  difficult  to  define  exactly  what  is  meant  by  selling  meat  at 
wholesale,  for  there  is  a  tendency  for  one  set  of  dealers  to  overlap  another. 
Strictly  speaking,  by  the  wholesale  price  is  meant  the  price  at  which  certain 
standard  wholesale  cuts  of  meat  are  sold  by  packers'  branch  houses  and 
jobbers  to  retailers  and  to  railroads,  steamships,  and  large  hotels. 

In  New  Haven  meat  is  sold  at  wholesale  by  the  branch  houses  of  Morris 
&  Co.,  Armour  &  Co.,  The  Cudahy  Packing  Co.,  Wilson  &  Co.,  The 
Indianapolis  Abattoir  Co.,  and  thru  Strong,  Barnes  &  Hart,  which  acts 
as  a  commission  house  for  Swift  &  Company.  In  addition  to  these 
representatives  of  the  large  packers,  there  is  a  distinct  class  of  jobbers  who 
buy  in  large  lots  from  the  packers'  branches  in  New  Haven,  New  York, 
or  Boston,  and  sell,  perhaps  in  smaller  lots  on  the  average,  to  the  retail. 


—32— 

hotel,  and  boarding  house  trade.  There  are  four  of  these  jobbers,  two  of 
whom  have  no  warehouses  but  simply  sell  to  the  outlying  retail  stores  from 
their  autos.  In  addition  to  these  two  classes  of  dealers  who  are  located  in 
New  Haven,  several  of  the  large  Boston  jobbing  houses  send  representatives 
here  every  week,  and  one  of  them  sends  a  salesman  twice  a  week;  not 
infrequently  representatives  of  New  York  houses  also  visit  New  Haven.  It 
is  thus  seen  that  New  Haven  is  very  well  served  from  the  wholesale  side; 
in  fact  for  a  city  of  this  size  it  is  perhaps  over-represented, — at  least  from 
the  wholesalers'  standpoint;  for  there  is  rather  severe  competition,  and  con- 
sequently New  Haven  is  not  considered  a  good  market  in  which  to  sell. 
This  point  will  be  emphasized  further  when  we  discuss  New  Haven  prices 
as  compared  with  those  of  other  markets. 

All  of  the  packers'  branches  or  agents  located  in  New  Haven  have  large 
and  well-equipped  plants  for  handling  fresh  meats,  each  having  its  own 
"coolers"  and  refrigerating  plants.  The  whole  carcasses  are  shipped  directly 
to  New  Haven  by  refrigerator  cars  from  the  parent  company's  slaughtering 
plant,  whether  this  be  in  Chicago,  Omaha,  St.  Louis,  or  Kansas  City.  From 
these  cars  the  meat  is  quickly  transported  to  their  own  refrigerators  and  kept 
there  in  a  semi-frozen  condition  until  delivered  to  the  retailer.  The  larger 
retailers  frequently  make  their  selections  by  personally  inspecting  the  meat 
in  these  coolers,  but  the  houses  send  salesmen  to  canvass  the  smaller  retailers. 
The  houses  all  maintain  equipment  for  delivering  the  meat  to  the  retailer. 

In  selling  beef,  the  wholesalers  sell  whole  carcasses  to  the  largest  stores, 
while  to  the  medium-sized  stores  they  usually  sell  half  carcasses  or  quarters, 
fore  and  hind.  Then  for  the  small  dealers  they  cut  the  forequarter  into 
the  rib,  chuck,  shank,  plate,  brisket,  shoulder ;  and  the  hind  into  round,  loin, 
hip,  and  short  loin.  In  the  case  of  lambs  they  sell  whole  carcasses  to  the 
larger  stores,  as  in  the  case  of  beef,  while,  if  it  is  desired,  they  make  the 
following  cuts, — leg,  loin,  and  rack.  The  customary  pork  cut  sold  here  con- 
sists of  loins.  In  addition  to  fresh  meats  some  of  these  houses  carry  a  line 
of  eggs,  butter,  poultry,  and  canned  goods.1  There  is  no  way  of  accurately 
determining  what  per  cent  of  New  Haven's  meat  supply  comes  from  these 
western  concerns,  but  from  various  estimates  which  have  been  made  by 
those  acquainted  with  the  meat  trade  it  is  fairly  safe  to  assume  that  about 
90  per  cent  is  handled  by  the  western  houses,  either  directly  or  indirectly 
through  jobbers. 

The  next  class  of  dealers  to  consider  is  the  jobbers,  who  have  definite 
functions  to  perform  in  the  meat  trade.  For  example  the  larger  jobbing 
concerns,  by  buying  and  selling  in  other  markets  as  well  as  in  New  Haven, 
act  as  steadiers  of  prices.  Furthermore,  these  dealers  buy  in  large  quan- 
tities and  perform  the  function  of  catering  to  a  large  class  of  small  retail 
stores  for  which  they  make  smaller  cuts  than  it  is  economical  for  the  large 
packing  houses  to  make.  Again,  by  having  more  intimate  connection  with 
the  small  dealer  than  the  large  houses,  they  are  able  to  extend  credit  when 
the  branch  house  would  hesitate  to  do  so.  By  buying  in  rather  large  quan- 
tities these  dealers  are  able  to  get  a  somewhat  lower  price  from  packers' 


1  See  Chapter  on  Butter  and  Eggs. 


—33— 

branches  than  is  quoted  on  average  retail  lots,  and  they  no  doubt  get  a  some- 
what higher  price  for  the  smaller  cuts.  This  difference  in  price  represents 
only  a  margin  of  profit  to  which  they  are  entitled  in  view  of  the  service 
they  perform.  It  was  not  found,  however,  that  the  prices  of  the  large 
jobbers  were  any  higher  for  the  same  grades  of  meat  in  the  same  quantities 
than  those  of  the  packers'  branch  houses. 

The  larger  jobbers  carry  on  their  business  in  a  manner  quite  similar  to 
that  of  the  branch  houses.  They  have  their  own  coolers  and  refrigerating 
systems.  Retailers  come  in  and  make  selections,  or  meat  is  sold  by  personal 
solicitation.  In  the  case  of  the  small  jobbers,  they  have  auto  trucks  which 
they  load  up  with  meat  obtained  from  the  larger  houses  and  go  around  from 
store  to  store  selling  this  supply.  They  take  care  of  the  smaller  and  cheaper 
stores  and  have  almost  no  influence  in  the  market.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
jobbers  as  a  whole  handle  about  8  per  cent  of  New  Haven's  meat  supply; 
two  per  cent  is  locally  slaughtered ;  and  the  other  90  per  cent  is  sold  thru 
packers'  branch  houses  and  representatives. 


LOCAL  SLAUGHTERING 

This  gives  us  a  general  summary  of  the  different  classes  of  wholesale  meat 
dealers  in  New  Haven,  their  functions  and  their  methods  of  doing  business. 
The  next  topic  is  the  extent  to  which  local  slaughtering  is  carried  on  in 
New  Haven. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  old  cows  which  are  killed  at  Allingtown  it 
may  be  said  that  no  slaughtering  of  cattle  is  carried  on  in  New  Haven. 
The  meat  which  is  killed  at  Allingtown  for  the  most  part  goes  through  the 
kosher  ritual,  the  forequarter  being  consumed  by  New  Haven  Hebrews, 
while  the  hindquarters  are  sold  to  a  cheap  Italian  trade.  This  cannot  be 
said  of  hogs,  however,  for  the  firm  of  Sperry  &  Barnes  has  a  very  up  to  date 
slaughtering  plant  for  killing  and  dressing  hogs,  and  manufacturing  pork 
products.  They  slaughter  from  3000  to  4000  hogs  a  week,  and  among  their 
products  are  found  some  of  the  best  hams,  bacons,  and  sausages  marketed 
in  New  England.  They  ship  the  greater  part  of  their  live  hogs  from  the 
west,  although  some  are  obtained  from  Vermont  and  a  few  from  Connecticut 
farms.  The  local  supply  is  so  small  and  scattered,  however,  that  it  cannot 
be  economically  used  to  any  very  great  extent.  The  firm  of  Strong,  Barnes 
&  Hart  formerly  did  some  beef  slaughtering,  but  this  has  been  discontinued 
during  the  past  year,  and  their  killing  is  now  confined  to  sheep.  They  kill 
almost  nothing  now  but  Connecticut  lambs  obtained  from  the  Lyman  farms, 
and  these  lambs  are  of  the  very  highest  grade, — so  far  superior  to  western 
lambs  that  they  regularly  command  a  wholesale  price  of  2  to  3  cents  a  pound 
over  the  quotation  of  western  lambs.  The  quality  of  this  grade  of  lamb 
compares  very  favorably  with  the  New  York  City  dressed  lambs.  The  out- 
put of  these  lambs  is  small  as  compared  with  the  total  consumption,  and 
almost  all  of  the  output  is  disposed  of  in  the  local  market. 


—34— 

MEAT  PRICES 

How  are  New  Haven  meat  prices  determined  and  what  relation  do  they 
have  to  those  of  other  cities?  Theoretically  one  would  say  that  New  Haven 
prices  would  be  higher  than  Chicago  prices  by  an  amount  equal  to  the 
freight  charges  from  Chicago  to  New  Haven,  plus  the  handling  charges  in 
New  Haven.  The  freight  rate  on  fresh  meat  is  47^  cents  per  hundred 
pounds,  or  a  little  less  than  half  a  cent  per  pound,  and  the  handling  cost 
may  be  estimated  to  be  about  the  same,  making  a  total  of  roughly  $1.00 
a  hundred,  or  one  cent  a  pound,  to  be  added  to  the  Chicago  price.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  however,  since  the  Chicago  quotations  are  figured  on  a  basis 
including  the  handling  charge,  we  can  include  only  the  $.47  per  hundred- 
weight. While  in  the  long  run  prices  may  show  this  difference,  as  a  matter 
of  fact  New  Haven  prices  are  often  below  the  New  York  or  even  the 
Chicago  quotations.  This  is  due  to  the  presence  of  so  many  branch  houses, 
and  the  resulting  severe  competition.  It  often  happens  that  much  meat  is 
handled  at  a  loss  owing  to  this  competition.  When  it  occurs  that  all,  or  a 
large  part,  of  the  dealers  have  a  slight  surplus,  to  clear  the  market  neces- 
sitates a  low  price,  for  it  is  better  to  sell  at  a  slight  loss  than  to  reship  to 
some  other  point.  This  is  abnormal,  but  according  to  the  concensus  of 
opinion  among  the  beef  trade,  prices  are  lower  than  Chicago  prices  very 
frequently. 

There  are  two  distinct  arrangements  under  which  packers'  branch  houses 
may  operate.  The  branch  house  may  handle  all  meats  on  a  commission  basis, 
selling  meat  for  an  agreed  commission,  its  profits  contingent  on  the  amount 
of  those  commissions,  or  it  may  be  simply  a  branch  house  of  the  main 
company,  with  its  manager  drawing  a  salary  and  deducting  expenses  from 
sales  before  refunding  the  same  to  the  parent  company.  In  either  case  the 
meat  is  shipped  to  the  New  Haven  branch  or  agent  under  what  is  known 
as  a  "Request" ;  this  is  a  figure  representing  the  value  of  the  lot  in  New 
Haven,  based  on  Chicago  prices.  The  dealer  in  New  Haven  attempts  to 
follow  this  as  far  as  possible,  but  he,  of  course,  is  confronted  with  the  fact 
that  there  are  many  other  dealers  in  the  same  market  and  it  is  "up  to  him" 
to  dispose  of  his  product.  Should  the  market  be  overstocked,  as  it  some- 
times is,  he  would  have  to  lower  his  price  to  dispose  of  his  supply.  The 
opinion  of  several  of  the  larger  houses  was  to  the  effect  that  the  "request" 
price  is  not  as  a  rule  obtained,  but  that  meats  sell  somewhat  under  these 
figures. 

Figures  were  obtained  showing  how  much  of  the  spread  between  the  price 
of  live  cattle  and  the  price  of  meat  to  the  retailer  is  attributable  to  the 
selling  costs  of  the  wholesale  organization  in  New  Haven.  In  an  average 
branch  house,  the  actual  expense  of  doing  business  amounts  to  approximately 
6  per  cent  of  gross  sales.  With  beef  selling  at  15  cents  per  pound  this  would 
mean  less  than  i  cent  per  pound.  This  indicates  that  the  wholesalers  take 
out  a  remarkably  small  margin  to  cover  expenses.  The  high  cost  of  meat 
is  due,  not  to  the  excessive  profit  of  the  packer  or  the  jobber,  but  to  the 
increasing  demand  for  meat  and  the  diminishing  production  of  cattle.  The 
live-weight  cost  of  cattle  has  actually  risen  80  per  cent  since  1914,  a  fact 


—35— 

due  to  the  conditions  entirely  beyond  the  control  of  any  "beef  trust,"  but 
resulting  from  fundamental  economic  conditions  such  as  increasing  popula- 
tion, demand  for  agricultural  products  which  raise  the  value  of  land,  and 
increasing  demand  for  meat  products.  The  consumer  will  perhaps  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  his  own  little  retailer,  from  whom  he  buys  his  roast  of 
beef  every  week  (or  now  perhaps  every  month)  in  reality  takes  a  gross 
margin  so  far  in  excess  of  that  which  the  packer  takes,  that  the  latter  sinks 
into  insignificance. 

COMPARISON  OF  RETAIL  AND  WHOLESALE  PRICES 
It  is  difficult  to  make  any  exact  comparison  of  prices  because  of  the 
large  number  of  variable  factors.  In  cutting  up  meat  to  sell  at  retail,  each 
individual  store  has  its  own  peculiarities ;  each  has  its  own  method  of 
making  cuts,  some  trimming  the  meat  more  than  others,  and  each  has  its 
own  standard  of  service.  These  factors  must  all  be  reflected  in  the  final 
price.  As  between  different  localities,  there  are  still  wider  differences,,  and 
the  peculiarity  of  the  local  demand, — whether  it  prefers  rumps,  sirloins,  or 
roasts,  also  has  its  effect  on  prices.  With  this  in  mind  we  shall  turn  to  the 
best  available  figures  for  making  our  comparison.  The  wholesale  figures 
for  New  Haven  given  below  represent  actual  quotations  which  were  given 
by  the  packers'  branch  houses  in  New  Haven  for  the  week  ending  March  3, 
1917.  The  wholesale  figures  for  New  York  are  based  on  the  quotations 
appearing  in  the  National  Provisioner  for  March  3,  1917.  The  retail  figures 
for  New  Haven  and  New  York  represent  the  averages  of  a  large  number 
of  prices  obtained  from  stores  in  various  sections  of  the  cities  by  personal 
interview  on  March  second. 


Cut 
Sirloin 

Wholesale 
X.  V. 

*                18-19 

Retail 
X.  Y. 

2O  4 

Wholesale 
N.  H. 

16—19 

Retail 
N.  H. 

•3C    -3 

Round    

14—  ic 

2O  ^ 

l6—I7 

^2  0 

Rib 

igU-IQ 

28  ^ 

1  6—  20 

267 

Chuck    

ltl/2—  14 

10  ^ 

14 

22  4 

Pork  loins    . 

20 

26.6 

10.  E; 

2^.4 

These  figures  must  be  used  with  the  greatest  caution,  for  the  wholesale 
quotations  represent  the  price  for  a  whole  cut,  which,  when  subdivided, 
sells  at  a  wide  range  of  prices,  depending  on  the  quality  of  the  cut,  whereas 
the  retail  prices  shown  above  are  simply  the  average  of  prices  for  the 
best  cuts.  A  certain  amount  also  has  to  be  deducted  as  waste. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  actual  gross  profit  of  a  retailer  based  on  the 
retail  price  of  meat  it  would  be  necessary  to  do  one  of  two  things.  We 
might  take  his  gross  sales  of  beef  over  a  period  and  deduct  from  this  the 
wholesale  prices  which  he  paid  for  this  beef.  The  difference  resulting  would 
represent  the  amount  of  gross  profit  based  on  sales.  But  it  was  impossible 
to  ascertain  such  figures.  Another  possibility  is  to  ascertain  the  percentages 
which  each  cut  represents  in  100  pounds  of  beef,  and  find  out  what  prices 
are  charged  for  these  cuts  when  the  wholesale  price  is  at  a  certain  figure. 
The  difficulty  of  this  method  is  that  every  store  has  its  own  basis  of  prices, 


-jfr- 

some  requiring  more  profit  than  others.  A  large  New  Haven  store  fur- 
nished the  following  figures  which  represent  the  percentage  that  each  cut 
is  of  the  total  weight,  and  the  retail  prices  charged  when  the  wholesale 
price  of  beef  is  between  15  and  16  cents  per  pound. 

Name  Percentage  of  Retail  price          Total  realized  from 

of  cut  total  weight  (average)  each  100  pounds 

Roast   Beef    9  $-25  $2.25 

Loin    22  .24  5.28 

Round    21  .23  4.83 

Chuck    22  .20  4.40 

Clod    9  -16  1.44 

Plate    17  -14  2.38 

100  $20.58 

Approximately  5  per  cent  has  to  be  deducted  as  waste,  which  leaves  a  net 
amount  of  $19.55.  When  the  wholesale  price  of  beef  is  $15.00  per  100  for 
whole  carcasses,  a  gross  margin  of  23.3  per  cent  of  sales  is  realized  on  this 
basis ;  when  the  wholesale  price  is  $16.00  per  100,  the  gross  margin  realized 
is  18.2  per  cent  of  sales.  It  must  be  remembered  that  these  figures  represent 
a  large  house  doing  business  on  a  fairly  close  margin.  A  smaller  store  cater- 
ing to  its  own  family  trade  would  probably  sell  at  a  figure  high  enough  to 
enable  it  to  take  out  a  margin  of  25-33  per  cent  of  its  selling  price.  This 
estimate  was  made  by  one  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  meat  business 
in  New  Haven.  These  figures  correspond  closely  to  those  shown  in  Bulletin 
No.  113  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  referred  to  above, 
where  the  gross  retail  margins  on  nine  lots  of  beef  were  10.81,  8.47,  33.29, 
1.88,  15.28,  13.93,  22.90,  21.83,  and  13.82  per  cent  of  sales  respectively.  In 
other  words,  retail  butchers  account  roughly  for  from  18  to  30  per  cent  of 
prices  charged  to  consumers. 

This  retail  gross  margin  of  from  18  to  30  per  cent  of  sales  is  by  far  the 
largest  element  in  the  cost  of  marketing  meat  from  producer  to  consumer. 
New  York  retail  prices  are  somewhat  lower  on  the  whole  than  New  Haven 
prices,  although  the  difference  in  wholesale  prices  would  not  seem  to  warrant 
this.  The  quality  of  meat  which  comes  to  New  Haven  is,  to  be  sure,  fairly 
high,  yet  the  quality  seen  by  the  writer  in  New  York  was  fully  as  good, 
if  not  better.  Further,  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  the  cost  of  doing  busi- 
ness could  be  more  in  New  Haven.  The  only  explanation  which  the  writer 
can  give  is  that  roasts  are  less  in  demand  in  New  Haven  and  have  to  be 
sold  under  New  York  figures,  while  steaks  are  more  in  demand,  and  con- 
sequently sell  at  a  higher  figure,  the  net  balance,  however,  being  slightly 
higher  for  New  Haven. 

The  retailer's  cost  of  doing  business  averages  well  over  15  per  cent,  and 
in  many  cases  it  is  over  20  per  cent  of  his  sales.  He  is  under  heavy  expenses, 
not  the  least  of  which  are  occasioned  by  maintaining  delivery  service  and 
giving  credit.  Not  a  little  might  be  saved  in  marketing  costs  if  the  consumer 
were  willing  to  pay  cash  and  take  his  purchases  home ;  but  the  average  con- 
sumer prefers  to  pay  for  this  service.  With  such  a  cost  of  doing  business 
then,  a  20  to  25  per  cent  margin  is  not  out  of  reason.  In  fact  there  are  not 
many  butchers  growing  wealthy  even  with  the  high  cost  of  meat. 


—37— 


CHAPTER  VII 

NEW  HAVEN'S  MILK  SUPPLY 
By  J.  D.  HAUSLEIN 

During  the  year  1916  there  were  in  New  Haven  nearly  one  hundred  milk 
dealers  who  distributed  milk  over  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  routes. 
The  average  amount  of  milk  per  distributor  was  750  quarts  per  day.  The 
smallest  amount  of  milk  distributed  was  15  quarts,  and  the  largest  amount 
over  10,000  quarts  per  day.  In  the  milk  trade  there  are  constant  changes  in 
the  number  and  personnel  of  distributors.  In  the  preceding  year,  1915,  22 
route  men  discontinued  business.  New  members  enter  the  trade  at  frequent 
intervals. 

SOURCE  OF  SUPPLY 

Although  New  Haven  receives  some  cream  from  Massachusetts,  it  obtains 
its  milk  supply  entirely  from  Connecticut  and  mainly  from  points  within  a 
radius  of  50  miles.  The  following  table  shows  the  places  in  Connecticut 
whence  milk  is  shipped  to  New  Haven,  and  the  number  of  producers  reported 
at  each  place : 

No.  of 
Place  Producers 

W.  Haven  22 

Hawleyville   ......   15 

Brookfield    Center     7 


No.  of 
Place  Producers 

Northf ord    32 

N.  Guilford    22 

Orange    52 

N.  Branford 29 

Clinton    24 

East  Haven    10 

Derby    I 

Westville    4 

Hamden    23 

New  Haven   4 

Guilford    7 

Madison   2 

Woodbridge    36 

Cheshire   7 

W.   Cheshire  5 


Southbury    32 

South  Britain 3 

Woodmont    3 

Washington    I 

Totoket    5 

Wallingford    16 

Montowese    4 

Stevenson    2 

Durham    19 

Westfield    2 

N.  Haven    39 

Bethany    39 

E.  Wallingford   ..  2 


No.  of 

Place  Producers 

Highwood    5 

Seymour    2 

Roxbury    7 

Branford   3 

Allingtown    i 

Gilead  32 

Amston    84 

West  Chester  50 

W.  Goshen   3 

Goshen    9 

Collinsville    i 

Fair   Haven    i 

Falls  Village   ....  3 

Middlefield    i 

East  River    i 

Kent    .  6 


E.    Cheshire    4 

Total  number  of  places,  48. 
Total  number  of  producers,  682. 

The  number  of  producers  at  any  given  place  is  subject  to  frequent  changes, 
and  the  competition  between  New  Haven  and  the  other  large  cities  in 
Connecticut  for  milk  causes  many  changes  from  month  to  month  in  the 
places  milk  is  received  for  New  Haven  shipment.  It  will  be  seen  from  the 
accompanying  map  that  little  milk  is  received  from  the  territories  immedi- 
ately around  Bridgeport  and  Hartford,  while  at  some  distance  from  these 
cities  producers  ship  milk  into  New  Haven.  This  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
25.3  per  cent  of  the  shippers  are  in  the  40-50  mile  zone,  as  shown  in  the 


following  table,  which  gives  the  number  of  producers  within  each  ten  mile 
zone  around  New  Haven,  and  the  per  cent  in  each  zone : 


Zone  number  in  miles 
from  New  Haven 


No.  of 
Producers 


Less  than  10  miles    277 

From  10  to.  20  miles    .  120 


20 
30 
40 
50 


30 
40 
50 
60 


Over  60  miles 


SEASONAL  SUPPLY 


29 

26 

173 

48 


682 


Percentage 
of  total 

40.9 

17-5 
4.2 

3-8 

25-3 

7- 

1.3 


100. 


The  raw  milk  supply  for  New  Haven  is  subject  to  the  most  marked  sea- 
sonal changes.  From  January  to  the  midsummer  drought  there  is  a  gradual 
increase  in  milk  produced  on  the  dairy  farms,  and  from  then  on  to  December 
there  is  first  a  sharp  drop  and  then  a  gradual  falling  off.  The  reason  for 
the  increase  in  production  during  the  first  part  of  the  year  is  that  dairy- 
farmers  allow  their  cows  to  become  fresh  in  the  spring,  and  early  summer; 
and  the  more  or  less  abundant  supply  of  green  grass  keeps  milk  cows  at  a 
high  degree  of  milk-producing  efficiency.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  year 
these  conditions  are  reversed.  The  following  chart  shows  the  percentage  of 
total  annual  supply  received  each  month  by  one  of  the  largest  companies 
in  New  Haven. 


10 
3 

8 

7 

lo 
5 

4 
3 

1 
0 

'o 

/ 

^ 

IV/o 

9 
8 
7 
b 
5 
4 
3 
2 
1 
0 

t 

#-• 

x 

__ 

ii>^ 

\ 

^ 

X, 

/ 

*•         — 

Jan.  Feb.  Mar  Apr  Nay  June  July  ^u^.  Sept.  Oct.  Nov.  Dec. 

Percentage  of  total  milk  supply  received  each  month,  1916,  by  one  of  the 
largest  milk  companies  in  New  Haven. 


-39— 


—40- 

In  the  milk  distributing  business  in  New  Haven,  competition  between 
milkmen  for  the  supply  is  so  severe  that  they  agree  to  take  all  of  the  milk 
produced  by  their  producers  during  the  entire  year.  This  is  necessary  in 
order  that  the  dealers  may  be  assured  of  as  large  a  supply  as  possible 
during  the  period  of  milk  scarcity.  During  the  season  of  large  production, 
the  problem  confronting  the  distributor  is  to  find  a  means  of  using  the 
surplus  milk.  Methods  of  disposing  of  the  surplus  vary  among  the  different 
city  distributors.  Some  skim  the  surplus  milk  for  cream,  sell  the  cream,  and 
dispose  of  the  skimmed  milk  to  hog  raisers ;  or  sometimes  they  simply  throw 
it  away.  Other  milkmen  use  surplus  milk  in  the  manufacture  of  ice  cream. 
A  third  set  make  considerable  quantities  of  butter. 

CONSUMPTION 

Dairymen  estimate  the  per  capita  daily  consumption  of  milk  in  New  Haven 
at  one  pint  per  person.  If  the  population  of  New  Haven  were  placed  at 
170,000  this  would  mean  that  the  total  daily  amount  of  milk  necessary  to 
supply  the  city  would  be  85,000  quarts.  The  Connecticut  Milk  Producers' 
Association  places  the  daily  milk  supply  at  72,000  quarts,  and  this  is  probably 
about  accurate,  indicating  a  per  capita  consumption  of  about  .42  quarts  per 
day. 

MARKETING  METHODS 

Milk  is  marketed  in  the  city  in  three  separate  ways, — at  retail  in  bottles., 
at  wholesale  in  bottles,  and  at  wholesale  in  cans.  Approximately  48.4  per 
cent  of  the  entire  amount  of  milk  distributed  in  New  Haven  is  sold  at  retail 
in  bottles ;  31  per  cent  is  sold  at  wholesale  in  bottles ;  and  20.6  per  cent  is 
sold  at  wholesale  in  cans.  Milk  sold  at  retail  in  bottles  is  practically  all 
delivered  to  private  families,  the  average  per  family  being  about  1.5  quarts. 
Milk  sold  wholesale  in  bottles  goes  to  retail  market  men  and  grocers,  board- 
ing houses,  and  to  some  restaurants  and  soda  fountains.  Milk  sold  wholesale 
in  cans  goes  largely  to  restaurants  and  hotels,  although  some  of  the  larger 
confectionery  stores  doing  a  soda  fountain  business  use  large  quantities  of 
milk  in  cans. 

The  problems  of  distribution  may  be  divided  into  four  parts — (i)  trans- 
portation, (2)  clarifying,  pasteurizing,  and  bottling,  (3)  delivery,  (4)  super- 
vision. 

Transportation. — Most  of  the  milk  brought  into  the  city  for  distribution 
thru  the  regular  channels  is  in  40  quart  cans.  Some  milkmen  in  New  Haven 
produce  their  own  milk.  In  such  a  case  the  bottling  plant  is  located  at  the 
place  of  production,  and  the  problem  becomes  one  of  properly  treating  the 
milk,  and  delivering  it  either  in  bottles,  or  in  cans  holding  upwards  of  10 
quarts.  Fifty  per  cent  of  the  milk  shipped  into  New  Haven  in  40  quart  cans 
is  shipped  by  rail.  The  rest  is  hauled  in  either  by  horse  and  wagon,  or  by 
motor  trucks.  The  average  cost  of  the  transportation  of  milk  to  New  Haven 
is  one  half  cent  per  quart.  Transportation  costs  on  milk  are  proportionate 
to  the  distance  the  milk  is  transported.  When  milk  comes  from  long  dis- 
tances by  rail,  it  is  necessary  to  use  refrigeration.  The  cost  of  refrigeration 


is  borne  partly  by  the  railroad  and  partly  by  the  New  Haven  milk  distributor. 
By  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  milk  produced  within  a  radius  of  20  miles 
from  New  Haven  is  either  hauled  to  the  city  by  team  or  truck;  the  larger 
portion  of  milk  produced  outside  of  this  radius  is  shipped  by  rail.  However 
there  seems  to  be  a  tendency  to  substitute  the  motor  truck  for  railroad 
transportation  even  for  the  greater  distances. 

Clarifying,  Pasteurising,  and  Bottling. — The  process  of  clarification  frees 
the  milk  of  foreign  particles.  The  process  consists  of  the  application  of 
centrifugal  force  to  the  milk;  the  result  being  that  foreign  matter  is 
separated  from  the  milk,  leaving  it  clean.  The  application  of  centrifugal 
force  to  milk,  however,  serves  to  break  up  the  colonies  of  bacteria  in  the 
milk,  and  causes  their  rapid  multiplication,  with  the  result  that  milk  turns 
sour  much  more  readily  than  if  not  clarified.  If  the  milk  is  immediately 
pasteurized  after  being  clarified  the  danger  of  souring  is  lessened.  Improved 
machinery  for  clarifying  milk  is  being  rapidly  introduced;  the  technical 
improvements  in  this  machinery  render  the  distributors  liable  to  a  rapid 
depreciation  of  their  clarifying  machines  largely  due  to  dangers  of  obsoles- 
cence. There  are  so  many  elements  of  cost  that  enter  jointly  into  the  cost 
of  operating  a  clarifier  that  it  is  practically  impossible  to  find  any  accurate 
figure  of  the  cost  of  clarifying.  For  example,  the  same  power  that  is  used 
in  clarifying  is  also  used  for  runnvng  an  agitator,  which  stirs  and  so  keeps 
milk  stored  in  tanks  at  the  same  uniform  consistency  of  cream  and  milk 
solids,  until  ready  for  bottling  or  drawing  into  cans.  It  is  practically 
impossible  to  calculate  separately  the  cost  of  the  coal  used  to  generate  power 
for  the  clarifier,  the  agitator,  and  power  and  heat  for  the  pasteurizer. 

Pasteurising. — There  are  at  present  three  methods  of  pasturizing.  (i) 
Pasteurizing  in  the  bottle,  which  involves  the  placing  of  milk  in  bottles 
which  are  then  plunged  into  hot  water  or  steam  for  a  period  of  time 
sufficient  to  kill  disease  bacteria  or  microbes.  (2)  "Holding,"  which  consist 
of  running  the  milk  into  a  vat  and  heating  it  to  a  temperature  of  from 
143  to  145  degrees  for  a  like  period.  (3)  "Flashing,"  which  means  the 
raising  of  the  milk  to  a  high  temperature  for  a  short  time,  usually  performed 
in  or  over  heated  pipes.  The  method  which  is  conducive  to  the  best  results 
is  that  of  pasteurizing  in  the  bottle.  The  same  progress  in  the  technical 
development  of  pasteurizing  machinery  has  taken  place  as  in  clarifying 
machinery,  and  the  same  dangers  of  obsolescence  are  present.  The  life  of 
a  good  pasteurizer  or  clarifyer  is  not  over  five  years.  Likewise  there  are 
so  many  elements  that  enter  into  the  cost  of  pasteurizing  that  it  is  impossible 
to  secure  an  accurate  figure.  A  conservative  estimate  of  the  cheapest 
method,  however,  including  both  pasteurizing  and  clarifying,  is  one-half 
cent  per  quart. 

Bottling. — This  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  costliest  functions  of 
the  milk  distributor.  Since  almost  80  per  cent  of  the  total  milk  supply  of 
New  Haven  passes  to  the  consumer  in  bottles,  the  work  of  bottling  milk, 
collecting,  cleaning,  and  filling  the  bottles  is  one  of  the  principal  features 
of  the  milk  trade.  Each  distributor  has  to  keep  a  stock  of  about  four  bottles 
for  each  quart  of  milk  bottled.  These  four  bottles  are  distributed  over  the 


—42— 

needs  of  the  trade  as  follows:  One  in  the  process  of  cleaning  and  filling; 
one  in  the  hands  of  the  user ;  one  in  transit  to  and  from  the  plant ;  and 
one  astray  or  in  reserve  or  in  some  miscellaneous  use.  Quart  bottles  cost 
$4.00  per  gross  or  2.7  cents  apiece,  and  pint  bottles  $5.00  per  gross,  or  3.5 
cents  apiece,  in  1916.  The  price  in  1917  has  risen  to  $4.90  per  gross  for  quart 
bottles,  or  3.4  cents  apiece,  and  $6.50  per  gross  for  pints,  or  4.5  cents  apiece. 
It  is  customary  for  each  milk  distributor  to  have  his  name  stamped  on  the 
bottles  which  he  uses.  A  different  stamp  is  sometimes  used  on  bottles  sold 
at  wholesale  to  retail  stores,  from  the  one  on  bottles  which  are  delivered 
from  house  to  house.  Losses  from  breakage  and  non-return  of  bottles 
amount  to  about  one  per  cent  of  all  bottles  delivered  each  day;  this  means 
that  a  dealer  has  to  practically  replenish  his  whole  stock  of  bottles  in  the 
course  of  a  year.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  collection  of  stray  bottles,  and 
their  more  prompt  return  to  the  respective  owners,  the  New  Haven  Milk 
Bottle  Exchange  was  organized. 

THE  NEW  HAVEN  MILK  BOTTLE  EXCHANGE 
The  'Exchange  has  been  organized  and  in  operation  for  more  than  nine 
years.  It  was  originally  conducted  as  a  department  of  a  single  company, 
which  distributed  the  bottles  it  received  to  their  rightful  owners;  but  the 
need  for  a  central  clearing  house,  and  for  some  form  of  a  protective  associa- 
tion to  attend  to  the  collection  of  bottles  and  their  return  to  the  proper 
owners  led  to  the  formation  of  the  present  organization.  This  consists  of 
an  association  of  milkmen  and  dairymen  of  New  Haven,  Orange,  Westville, 
Woodbridge,  East  Haven,  and  Hamden.  All  but  three  or  four  milk  dis- 
tributors in  New  Haven  belong  to  the  Exchange.  The  dues  are  50  cents 
per  month  for  each  member,  and  if  not  paid  after  a  lapse  of  6  months, 
membership  is  suspended,  and  the  suspended  member  receives  no  more 
bottles  from  the  Exchange. 

The  functions  of  the  Exchange  are  to  collect  and  sort  out  bottles,  and  to 
act  as  a  protective  association  of  milkmen.  Bottles  on  being  brought  back 
by  the  driver  are  placed  together  in  crates  holding  half  a  gross  each  and 
sent  to  the  Exchange  where  they  are  sorted.  The  crates  are  then  placed  in 
compartments  one  for  each  member  of  the  Exchange,  awaiting  transference 
back  to  the  rightful  owners.  For  each  bottle  sent  to  the  Exchange  by  the 
milkmen  a  credit  of  I  cent  is  given,  and  for  each  bottle  returned  to  its 
rightful  owner  a  charge  of  2  cents  is  made.  The  Exchange  also  receives 
bottles  from  ash-men  and  street  cleaners.  No  bottles  are  received  from 
peddlers.  The  superintendent  of  the  Exchange  works  entirely  on  a  com- 
mission basis. 

Owing  to  the  inadequate  facilities  it  is  impossible  to  store  all  the  bottles 
under  roof,  hence  the  breakage  in  winter  due  to  freezing  may  run  as  high 
as  2  per  cent  a  day.  About  30,000  bottles  pass  thru  the  Exchange  each 
month,  of  which  there  are  considerably  more  quart  than  pint  bottles.  Pint 
bottles  are  less  apt  to  be  returned,  because  housewives  find  them  useful  as 
containers  for  preserves  and  other  articles  although  this  practice  is  con- 
trary to  law.  The  principal  reason  why  bottles  have  to  pass  thru  this 


—43— 

exchange  to  be  sorted  out  is  that  housewives  substitute  one  dealer's  bottle 
for  another  when  they  return  them. 

The  function  of  protection  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Exchange. 
No  member  is  allowed  to  use  the  bottle  of  another  member,  and  if  he  is 
found  doing  so,  he  is  fined  50  cents  for  each  bottle  so  used.  This  prevents 
the  fraudulent  use  of  a  competitor's  property  which  is  prevalent  in  some 
cities.  The  superintendent  of  the  Milk  Exchange  is  empowered  to  inves- 
tigate any  complaints  of  the  wrongful  use  of  bottles  and  his  report  is 
submitted  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Exchange  for  final  action. 

The  Exchange  also  collects,  sorts,  and  returns  milk  cans.  The  charge 
for  this  service  is  25  cents  per  can,  and  nothing  is  allowed  the  dairyman 
who  sends  in  the  can.  The  cost  of  a  40  quart  can,  new,  is  $3.15. 

Delivery. — Milk  delivered  from  house  to  house  is  carried  principally  by 
horse  and  wagon  altho  automobile  trucks  are  used  in  a  few  instances. 
Milk  delivered  to  stores  is  also  largely  carried  by  horse  and  wagon,  with 
a  somewhat  greater  proportion  carried  by  auto-truck  than  in  house  delivery. 
Autos  are  used  still  more  frequently  for  the  delivery  of  large  wholesale 
quantities  in  cans.  Delivery  labor  costs  about  three  quarters  of  a  cent  per 
quart  of  milk  delivered.  There  are  no  adequate 'figures  on  the  costs  of  wear 
and  tear,  up-keep,  and  replacement  of  delivery  equipment,  but  it  may  be 
estimated  as  about  equal  to  the  labor  cost. 

Supervision. — The  costs  of  milk-distribution  include  overhead  charges, 
rent,  depreciation,  insurance,  bad  debts,  collection,  etc.  Milkmen  allow  credits 
of  from  i  week  to  3  months.  The  usual  period  of  credit,  however,  is  i  week. 
It  is  found  impossible  by  many  dealers  to  have  their  delivery  men  make 
collections,  and  separate  collectors  therefore  have  to  be  employed.  Payments 
for  collecting  are  usually  on  a  commission  basis. 

Estimates  of  Cost  of  Distributing  Milk 

PER.    QT. 

Transportation  from  farm  to  plant  $.005 

Clarifying,  pasteurizing,  bottling,  cooling 020 

Delivery  and  collecting  accounts 015 

Supervision  and  clerical 005 

Total  Cost $-0451 

During  the  year  1916,  the  usual  retail  price  of  milk  in  bottles  was  nine 
cents  per  quart ;  the  average  price  to  the  wholesale-in-bottle  trade  was  about 
724  cents;  and  the  average  price  at  wholesale  in  cans  was  about  6^4  cents. 
The  average  price  paid  to  producers  during  1916  was  about  4^  cents  per 
quart.  The  accompanying  diagram  shows  approximately  the  various  ele- 
ments composing  the  retail  price  of  milk. 

When  milk  was  selling  at  nine  cents  a  quart  in  1916,  the  net  profit  to  one 
of  the  largest  distributors  in  New  Haven  was  less  than  one-fourth  of  a  cent 
a  quart.  Recent  investigations  show  that  the  large  milk  dealers  in  New 
York  City  obtain  a  net  profit  of  about  one-third  of  a  cent  a  quart. 

is  does  not  include  rent,  insurance,  depreciation,  and  profit. 


—44— 


s 
c 

calc 

ents 

9- 

81 

Clarifying,  pasteurizing, 
bottling,  etc.,  2  cents 

7- 

Delivery  and  collecting, 

e: 

\y2  cents 

— 

Overhead  expense  and 

5" 

profit,  y±  cent 

Transportation,  ^  cent 

41 

Y- 

T. 

To  producer,  4-^  cents 

T- 

Why  milk  cost  nine  cents  a  quart  in  1916. 


—45— 

In  conclusion,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  first  consideration  for  con- 
sumer and  distributor  alike  is  the  supply  in  convenient  form  of  a  good 
quality  of  milk, — clean,  pure,  and  wholesome.  At  present  the  legal  standard 
is  a  whole  milk  that  contains  at  least  3%  per  cent  of  butter-fat.  In  order 
to  maintain  this  standard  of  milk  some  of  the  dairymen  in  New  Haven  have 
entered  into  a  policy  of  buying  milk  on  a  butter-fat  basis,  altho  it  is  as  yet 
by  no  means  a  common  method.  It  is  often  the  case  that  milk  producers 
fail  to  understand  the  advantages  of  buying  and  selling  milk  on  the  butter- 
fat  basis.  The  tendency  towards  this  method  is  to  encourage  the  production 
of  an  increasingly  superior  grade  of  milk.  A  milk  of  good  quality  should 
contain  at  least  4  per  cent  butter-fat,  but  it  might  be  desirable  to  have  milk 
of  different  degrees  of  richness  sold  at  retail,  with  prices  adjusted  to 
butter- fat  content. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HOW  NEW  HAVEN  HOUSEWIVES  PURCHASE 

In  cooperation  with  the  New  Haven  Housewives'  League  information  was 
received  from  131  New  Haven  women  concerning  their  methods  of  buying 
foodstuffs.  These  reports  are  from  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  in  tabu- 
lating them,  they  have  been  divided  into  three  groups:  first,  those  living  in 
the  territory  from  Orange  Street  to  Prospect  Street,  and  called  hereafter 
the  Whitney  Avenue  Section;  second,  a  miscellaneous  group,  including 
families  in  other  parts  of  the  city;  third,  16  families  living  in  the  Italian 
district. 

An  effort  was  made  to  find  out  to  what  extent  New  Haven  women  rely 
on  neighborhood  corner  grocers,  hucksters,  fancy  grocers,  and  large  down- 
town stores.  This  last  class  includes  those  on  lower  State  Street,  the  Pure 
Food  Market,  and  Welch's,  referred  to  hereafter  as  State  Street  stores. 

Out  of  in  women  who  reported  the  principal  kind  of  dealer  from  whom 
they  buy  fruits  and  vegetables,  41  per  cent  said  that  they  relied  principally  on 
corner  grocers,  41  per  cent  on  State  Street  stores,  12  per  cent  on  hucksters, 
and  5  per  cent  on  fancy  grocers.  This  indicates  that  the  large  down-town 
food  store  is  of  about  the  same  importance  as  the  corner  grocer.  These 
proportions  vary  in  different  parts  of  the  town.  People  living  in  the  Whit- 
ney Avenue  section  buy  more  from  State  Street  stores  and  down-town  fancy 
grocers  than  people  living  in  other  parts  of  the  town.  Those  living  in  the 
Italian  section  rely  almost  entirely  on  corner  grocers  and  hucksters. 

Of  course  a  great  many  families  buy  from  two  or  more  classes  of  stores. 
Of  the  131  replying,  71  buy  to  a  certain  extent  from  hucksters,  and  55  from 
fancy  grocers.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  figures  above,  only  5  rely  principally 
on  the  fancy  grocer ;  most  of  them  go  to  this  class  of  store  either  for  special 
products,  such  as  butter,  eggs,  tea,  and  coffee,  or  only  occasionally  in  order 
to  make  special  purchases  for  entertainments  or  dinner  parties. 

In  buying  meats,  42  housewives  out  of  107  rely  principally  upon  State 
Street  stores,  and  the  other  65  buy  principally  from  neighborhood  butchers. 


-46- 

The  Whitney  Avenue  people  appear  to  patronize  the  State  Street  stores 
to  a  greater  extent  than  people  in  other  parts  of  the  city.  Eighty,  or  75 
per  cent  of  the  107  answering,  claim  that  they  go  to  store  and  select  their 
own  cuts.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  ladies  connected  with  the 
Housewives'  League,  do  not  represent  the  average  New  Haven  housewife, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  especially  interested  in  and  pay  more  personal 
attention  to  their  marketing. 

REASONS  FOR  BUYING  FROM  HUCKSTERS 

Out  of  63  housewives  replying  on  this  matter,  41  claim  that  they  buy 
from  hucksters  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  12  because  they  believe  that  they 
get  better  quality,  and  10  because  they  believe  that  they  get  lower  prices. 
Many  women  like  to  buy  from  hucksters  because  they  have  an  opportunity 
to  look  over  the  goods  and  select  just  what  they  want,  without  having  to  go 
to  market  to  do  this.  Seventy-four  women  expressed  a  definite  opinion  as 
to  whether  hucksters'  prices  are  lower  than  the  prices  in  corner  groceries, 
and  44  per  cent  of  these  replied  that  they  believe  hucksters'  prices  are  lower, 
37  per  cent  believe  that  they  are  practically  the  same,  and  19  per  cent,  that 
hucksters'  prices  are  higher.  The  majority  of  those  that  believe  that  huck- 
sters' prices  are  higher  live  in  the  Whitney  Avenue  section,  and  this 
undoubtedly  indicates  that  hucksters  charge  higher  prices  in  that  section 
than  in  other  parts  of  the  city. 

Opinions  were  also  obtained  as  to  the  quality  of  hucksters'  goods  as  com- 
pared with  store  goods,  and  51  per  cent  replied  that  hucksters'  goods  are 
of  better  quality,  34  per  cent  that  there  is  no  choice,  and  10  per  cent  that 
they  are  poorer.  Inasmuch  as  hucksters  bring  their  goods  direct  from  the 
Commerce  Street  Market  each  morning  during  the  summer,  it  is  probably 
true  that  the  local  fruits  and  vegetables  handled  by  hucksters  are  a  little 
fresher  and  a  little  better  quality  than  those  handled  by  the  stores. 

The  majority  of  women  who  buy  from  hucksters  deal  with  the  same 
huckster  from  day  to  day  and  some  of  them  have  dealt  with  the  same 
huckster  for  a  number  of  years,  in  some  cases  as  long  as  10  or  15  years. 

SERVICES  GIVEN  BY  RETAIL  STORES 

Fifty-six  per  cent  of  the  housewives  replying,  report  that  they  have  charge 
accounts  with  the  stores  where  they  deal,  and  the  other  44  per  cent  that 
they  pay  cash.  These  proportions  vary  in  different  parts  of  the  town :  65 
per  cent  in  the  Whitney  Avenue  section  have  charge  accounts;  55  per  cent 
in  the  miscellaneous  group ;  and  40  per  cent  in  the  Italian  district.  These 
figures  seem  to  bear  out  the  usual  belief  that  stores  catering  to  the  wealthy 
classes  of  customers  have  high  credit  expenses,  inasmuch  as  the  cost  of 
collections  is  high,  a  large  amount  of  capital  is  tied  up  in  accounts,  and 
wealthy  people  often  are  not  so  prompt  in  paying  their  bills  as  the  middle 
classes. 

Retailers  solicit  orders  at  the  house  from  only  13  per  cent  of  the  ladies 
replying.  In  the  Whitney  Avenue  section,  house  to  house  solicitation  by 


—47— 

retailers  has  practically  ceased,  whereas  in  other  sections  of  the  city  it  is 
still  done  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  telephone  has  largely  taken  the 
place  of  house  to  house  solicitation.  Forty  per  cent  reply  that  they  use  the 
telephone  for  giving  orders  more  or  less  regularly;  19  per  cent  say  that 
they  use  the  telephone  a  little ;  and  41  per  cent  do  not  use  it  at  all.  Twenty- 
two  housewives  out  of  123  actually  admit  that  they  telephone  for  goods 
in  the  afternoon,  asking  to  have  them  delivered  before  dinner.  The  testi- 
mony of  the  retailers  themselves,  as  reported  in  the  chapter  on  New  Haven 
Retail  Stores,  would  indicate  that  such  unreasonable  requests  are  more 
common  than  the  housewives  admit. 

Fifty-nine  per  cent  of  the  housewives  reporting  have  goods  delivered,  and 
the  other  41  per  cent  go  to  market  and  bring  their  goods  home.  Eight  per 
cent  say  that  they  do  not  go  to  market  at  all ;  24  per  cent  that  they  go  only 
once  a  week ;  31  per  cent  that  they  average  about  twice  a  week ;  29  per  cent, 
3  times  a  week;  and  the  other  8  per  cent  claim  that  they  go  every  day. 

OTHER  MEANS  OF  BUYING 

Fourteen  housewives  out  of  107  reported  that  they  have  bought  some 
foodstuffs  by  parcel  post,  but  the  amount  purchased  is  apparently  insignifi- 
cant. Some  of  the  commodities  that  have  been  bought  in  this  way  are 
poultry,  butter,  maple  sugar,  eggs,  fruit,  bacon,  and  cheese.  Twenty-six  also 
report  that  they  have  bought  some  goods  cooperatively  with  their  neighbors. 

Among  those  who  have  cooperated  with  their  neighbors  in  buying  large 
quantities,  there  are  three  or  four  who  have  bought  from  mail-order  houses, 
such  as  Sears  Roebuck  and  Montgomery,  Ward  and  Company.  Generally 
such  articles  as  cocoa,  chocolate,  canned  goods,  extracts,  spices,  and  sugar 
have  been  bought  in  this  way,  and  the  opinion  is  that  prices  obtained  from 
these  houses  are  lower  than  New  Haven  prices.  A  few  have  grouped 
together,  generally  not  more  than  two  or  three  families  in  a  group,  to 
buy  from  wholesale  grocers  and  in  some  cases  from  large  retailers.  One 
instance  was  cited  where  three  families  bought  $60  worth  of  goods  from  a 
large  New  Haven  retailer,  and  it  was  estimated  that  a  saving  of  about  $12 
was  made  on  this  order.  In  another  instance,  canned  goods,  cereals,  nuts, 
raisins,  and  soap  have  been  bought  for  two  years  cooperatively  by  a  number 
of  families  at  wholesale  prices,  but  the  name  of  the  dealer  from  whom  the 
goods  are  purchased  is  confidential.  Other  articles  which  have  been  bought 
cooperatively  are  eggs,  flour,  pineapples,  grape  fruit,  oranges,  apples,  peaches, 
potatoes,  and  in  one  case  meats.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  purchasing 
goods  cooperatively  in  this  manner,  payment  must  be  in  cash,  thus  requiring 
a  considerable  outlay  at  one  time,  proper  storage  facilities  must  be  available, 
and  when  goods  are  bought  from  points  outside  of  New  Haven,  freight  and 
express  charges  have  to  be  taken  into  consideration.  In  one  case  where 
three  New  Haven  families  bought  a  large  order  of  goods  from  a  local  dealer, 
this  dealer  delivered  all  the  goods  at  one  house,  and  the  husband  of  one  of 
the  cooperating  ladies  was  not  enthusiastic  about  the  arrangement,  because 
he  had  to  go  to  his  neighbor's  house  with  a  wheelbarrow  to  carry  home  his 
goods. 


-48- 

The  members  of  the  Housewives'  League  were  asked  to  what  extent  they 
would  go  to  a  farmers'  retail  public  market  if  one  were  established.  Twenty 
per  cent  say  that  they  would  go  every  day;  30  per  cent,  3  times  a  week; 
36  per  cent,  twice  a  week;  n  per  cent,  once  a  week;  and  3  per  cent,  that 
they  would  not  go  .at  all.  Ninety-two  per  cent  report  that  they  would  be 
willing  to  pay  cash  and  carry  their  goods  home.  The  experience  of  other 
cities  has  shown  that  women  in  general  are  not  so  willing  to  perform  these 
services  as  New  Haven  housewives  think  that  they  would  be.  It  might  be 
mentioned  that  21  per  cent  of  those  replying  to  these  questions  own 
automobiles. 


CHAPTER  IX 

COMPARISON   OF   PRICES   IN   NEW   HAVEN   WITH   PRICES   IN 
NEW  YORK,  BRIDGEPORT,  HARTFORD,  AND   SPRINGFIELD 

This  price  comparison  was  made  on  Friday,  March  2,  1917.  Four  inves- 
tigators visited  a  number  of  stores  in  New  Haven  during  the  forenoon,  and 
then  went  to  New  York,  Bridgeport,  Hartford,  and  Springfield  respectively 
for  the  afternoon.  Prices  were  obtained  from  twelve  stores  in  New  York, 
nine  in  Bridgeport,  five  in  Hartford,  six  in  Springfield,  and  twenty-eight  in 
New  Haven. 

Twenty-three  separate  quotations  were  obtained,  including  four  for  beef 
(sirloin,  round,  rib,  and  chuck),  two  for  lamb  (leg  and  rib),  two  for  pork 
(loin  and  chops),  two  for  ham  (whole  and  sliced),  two  for  bacon  (whole 
and  sliced),  two  for  chickens  (roasting  and  stewing),  two  for  eggs  ("strictly 
fresh"  and  "fresh  western"),  two  for  butter  (print  and  tub),  and  one  each 
for  potatoes,  cabbage,  onions,  rice,  and  carrots. 

These  figures  should  be  used  with  the  greatest  caution,  because  it  was 
impossible  to  get  quotations  for  exactly  the  same  grade  or  quality  in  each 
case.  They  are  sufficiently  accurate,  however,  to  indicate  the  general  price 
levels  in  the  cities  studied,  and  they  at  least  indicate  the  prices  that  con- 
sumers are  actually  paying  for  foodstuffs,  irrespective  of  whether  the  quali- 
ties are  exactly  the  same  in  all  these  five  cities.  The  figures  have  been 
thrown  into  comparable  form  by  calling  the  New  Haven  price  of  each 
commodity  100,  and  computing  the  other  prices  into  the  form  of  ratios, 
based  on  the  New  Haven  prices.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  weight  the 
commodities  according  to  their  relative  importance  in  computing  the 
averages. 

Calling  the  average  price  for  New  Haven  100,  the  approximate  averages 
in  the  other  four  cities  are  as  follows : 

New  Haven  100 

New   York   99 

Bridgeport    98 

Hartford     105 

Springfield    no 


—49— 

These  figures  indicate  that  the  general  price  level  is  slightly  higher  in 
New  Haven  than  in  New  York  and  Bridgeport,  but  substantially  lower  than 
in  Hartford  and  Springfield.  Springfield  prices  appear  to  be  about  10  per 
cent  higher  than  New  Haven  prices.  The  investigator  who  went  to  Spring- 
field reported  that  the  stores  there  were  neater  in  appearance  than  those  in 
New  Haven,  and  apparently  better  managed.  The  higher  prices  there  are 
possibly  due  partly  to  a  slightly  higher  grade  of  commodities  sold  in  that 
city.  Likewise,  there  is  a  possibility  that  Bridgeport  prices  are  lower 
because  of  a  slightly  poorer  grade  of  commodities  in  that  city. 

New  York  prices  are  substantially  lower  than  New  Haven  prices  with 
respect  to  most  of  the  cuts  of  beef,  and  also  with  respect  to  eggs.  New 
York  butter  prices  are  slightly  higher  than  New  Haven  butter  prices,  but 
New  York  butter  is  much  superior  to  New  Haven  butter.  New  York  is 
higher  than  New  Haven  on  potatoes  and  carrots.  Springfield's  high  prices 
are  due  mainly  to  the  higher  prices  of  meat  in  that  city,  which  average  about 
16  per  cent  higher  than  in  New  Haven. 

One  of  the  striking  features  of  this  study  of  prices  was  the  great  varia- 
tion in  different  stores  in  the  same  town.  In  New  Haven,  for  example,  the 
price  of  sirloin  steak  ranges  all  the  way  from  30  cents  to  40  cents  in  different 
stores ;  strictly  fresh  eggs  from  42  cents  to  60  cents  a  dozen ;  potatoes 
from  75  cents  to  90  cents  a  peck ;  and  rice  from  7  cents  to  10  cents  a  pound, 
although  the  great  majority  of  New  Haven  stores  were  asking  10  cents. 
These  prices  vary  for  sections  of  the  city,  and  by  character  of  store.  For 
example,  calling  the  average  New  Haven  price  for  all  commodities  in  all 
stores  100,  the  average  prices  in  the  lower  State  Street  stores  was  98,  in 
Fair  Haven  96.7,  in  City  Point  98.8,  in  the  Dixwell  Avenue  section  100.8, 
and  in  West  Chapel  Street  section  105. 

Prices  vary  in  different  stores  according  to  the  amount  of  service  that  the 
stores  render.  Those  which  give  credit  and  make  deliveries  necessarily 
have  to  charge  a  little  more  than  those  which  do  only  a  cash  business  and 
make  no  deliveries.  The  difference  in  price  is  not  so  great,  however,  as  one 
might  imagine,  as  it  averages  only  two  or  three  per  cent  less  than  the 
general  average  for  all  stores. 

Average  Prices  as  Obtained  on  March  2,  1917,  in  New  Haven,  New  York, 
Bridgeport,  Hartford,  and  Springfield 

New  New         Bridge-          Hart-         Spring- 

Unit  Haven          York  port  ford  held 

Sirloin    steak    Ibs.  35.3  29.4  37.9  36.2  43.0 

Round  steak  32.2  29.3  31.2  34.0  38.5 

Rib    roast     (untrimmed)  "  26.7  28.3  25.3  28.2  31.0 

Chuck    "  22.4  19.3  20.9  22.4  25.0 

Leg  of  lamb  "  28.3  27.7  25.5  28.0  20.7 

Lamb  chops,  rib   33.7  34.0  31.9  38.0  45.0 

Pork   loin    25.4  26.6  23.3  27.4  27.0 

Pork  chops   "  26.9  28.8  26.5  29.2  31.1 

Ham,  whole   "  26.4  25.8  29.0  28.0  28.6 

Ham,   sliced    "  36.5  37-8  38.4  43-5 


—50— 

New  New  Bridge-  Hart-  Spring- 
Unit  Haven  York  port  ford  field 

Bacon,   whole   Ibs.           30.9  30.1  34.2  35.6 

Bacon,  sliced   "            33-0  33-6  39-0 

Roasting   chickens    "             33.7  34- 1  33-5  38-7  39-8 

Stewing  chickens "             29.1  27.7  29.5  30.8  31.3 

Eggs,  strictly  fresh  doz.          52.7  45.3  49.6  57.0  53.6 

Eggs,  Fresh  western  ...        "             44.1  39.2  44.6  48.8  43.6 

Potatoes    peck  82.6  100.4  87.9  76.0  86.6 

Cabbage    Ibs.           11.4  10.8  10.9  n.o  u.o 

Onions    "             12.8  12.0  12.6  14.0  13.9 

Rice    "              9-3  9-2  g.i  10.0  9.8 

Carrots    "              5.5  6.6  5.4  6.3  6.6 

Butter,   print    "  47-9  48.1  45-5  50-4  48-5 

Butter,  tub    "  44.0  45.0  44.0  45.0  43.6 


CHAPTER  X 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Inasmuch  as  it  is  generally  agreed  that  New  Haven  should  have  a  public 
market,  and  since  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  just  what  form  such 
a  market  should  take,  it  is  important  to  understand  that  there  are  four 
possible  kinds  of  public  markets,  as  follows : 

1.  Retail  farmers'  market,  where  city  provides  space  for  farmers  to  sell 

direct  to  consumers. 

2.  Retail    dealers'    market,    where    city   provides    stores,    or    stalls,    for 

retail  dealers. 

3.  Wholesale  dealers'  market,  where  city  provides  stores  for  wholesale 

dealers. 

4.  Wholesale  farmers'  market,  where  city  provides  spaces  for  farmers 

to  sell  at  wholesale  to  store  keepers,  hucksters,  and  wholesalers. 

These  will  be  taken  up  briefly  in  order. 

i.  Retail  farmers'  markets  have  not  met  with  success  in  American  cities, 
except  in  a  few  isolated  cases,  and  there  appears  to  be  little  reason  to  hope 
that  such  a  market  would  be  successful  in  New  Haven.  The  reasons  why 
such  a  market  would  not  be  successful  are  obvious.  Farmers  can  not  afford 
to  stay  in  market  during  the  day  to  sell  to  consumers ;  housewives  cannot 
afford  the  time  from  their  household  and  social  duties  to  go  to  market; 
most  housewives  demand  service,  such  as  credit,  frequent  delivery,  ordering 
by  telephone,  buying  in  small  quantities,  etc.,  which  can  not  be  very  well 
given  by  farmers;  only  part  of  the  housewives'  supplies  can  be  bought  in 
such  a  market.  In  view  of  these  reasons,  and  the  failures  which  have 
attended  the  establishment  of  such  markets  in  other  cities,  it  seems  altogether 
unwise  to  consider  such  a  proposal  for  New  Haven,  especially  as  there  are 
much  more  pressing  needs  which  demand  undivided  attention. 


—5*- 

Retail  Dealers'  Markets.    This  is  a  common  form  of  public  market, 
d  is  found  in  many  large  cities  of  the  United  States.     The  need  for  such 
a  market  depends  on  the  size  of  the  city  and  on  the  willingness  of  house- 
wives  to   go   to   market.     The   principal   advantages   of    such   an   institution 

are, the    greater    convenience    for    housewives    through    concentration    of 

different  kinds  of  stores  in  a  restricted  area;  greater  specialization  by  com- 
modities among  the  dealers,  with  better  quality  and  variety  of  produce ;  con- 
centrated competition  among  dealers,  which  results  in  better  merchandising, 
better  products,  and  sometimes  lower  prices;  and  better  control  of  sanitary 
conditions. 

In  spite  of  the  possible  benefits  to  be  derived  from  such  a  market,  the 
committee  feels  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  expend  energy  in  trying  to 
establish  one,  at  least  at  present.  The  down-town  stores  are  already  highly 
localized,  especially  on  State  Street,  and  to  a  certain  extent  on  Congress 
Avenue,  so  that  the  matter  of  convenience  is  a  secondary  consideration. 
Whether  prices  in  a  dealers'  market  would  be  any  lower,  is  questionable. 
Sanitary  conditions  are  not  bad,  though  they  might  be  improved.  The 
establishment  of  such  a  market,  if  successful,  would  probably  result  in  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  retail  stores,  inasmuch  as  the  State  Street  mer- 
chants would  undoubtedly  continue  in  their  present  locations, — and  there 
appear  to  be  a  sufficient  number  of  retail  stores  already.  A  final  reason  for 
the  belief  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  push  this  matter  at  present  is  the  fact 
that  there  is  a  much  greater  need  in  New  Haven's  marketing  system,  which 
requires  a  vigorous  and  immediate  concentration  of  energy. 

3.  Wholesale    Dealers'   Market.     The    wholesale    produce   trade    of    New 
Haven   is   comprised  of  twelve  or   fourteen   dealers   in  miscellaneous   fruits 
and  vegetables,  three  butter  and  egg  houses,  and  the  meat  jobbers  and  branch 
houses  of  western  packers.     The  trade  is  not  extensive  enough  to  require 
special  effort  to  provide  better  facilities  for  these  merchants,  many  of  whom 
are    well    equipped   and    located   at   present, — especially   the   butter    and   egg 
dealers,  and  the  meat  supply  houses.     Definite  provision  should  be  made  for 
the  wholesale  fruit  and  vegetable  dealers,  however,  in  connection  with  any 
wholesale  market   that   may  be   established    for    farmers.      These   wholesale 
dealers  should  either  be  in  or  near  the  farmers'  market,  and  many  of  them 
have  expressed  a  willingness  to  rent  or  buy  stores  whenever  the  location  of 
a  farmers'  market  is  decided  upon. 

4.  Wholesale  Farmers'  Market.     The  paramount  need  is  a  properly  organ- 
ized,   equipped,   and   regulated   market   place    for    farmers,    where   they   may 
sell  at  wholesale  early  in  the  morning  to  hucksters,  retail  store  dealers,  and 
wholesale   dealers.     At  present  the   farmers  use   Commerce   Street  as  their 
market  place.     There  are  no   spaces   assigned   in  this  market,  and   farmers 
often  drive  in  before  midnight  to  obtain  suitable  locations  in  a  market  which 
does  not  open  until  five  o'clock.     The  market  is  entirely  unorganized ;   market 
prices  are  indefinite;    sharp  practices  are  common;    sanitary  conditions  are 
bad.     Many  growers  do  not  use  the  market  because  conditions  are  so  unsatis- 
factory;   likewise,  many  retail  dealers  who  would  otherwise  use  the  market 
stay  away  from  it.     New  Haven  is  far  behind  other  cities  with  respect  to 


—52— 

a  properly  organized  and  conducted   farmers'  market.    All  who  know  the 
situation  in  New  Haven  agree  that  such  a  market  place  is  the  crying  need. 

As  was  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  chapter  there  are  three  possible  solutions 
for  providing  a  proper  market  place  for  farmers,  as  follows: 

1.  City  ownership  and  operation. 

2.  Private  ownership  and  operation. 

3.  Cooperative  ownership  and  operation  by  the   farmers   themselves. 

A  fourth  possible  solution  is  for  the  city  to  own  the  market  place,  and  to 
lease  it  to  farmers  to  be  operated  cooperatively  by  them. 

These  possible  solutions  will  not  be  enlarged  on,  except  to  say  that  the 
proposition  is  not  likely  to  be  sufficiently  alluring  to  attract  private  capital. 
Cooperative  ownership  and  operation  by  farmers  has  it  advantages,  but  the 
committee  know  of  only  two  such  markets  in  existence, — at  Providence 
and  Louisville.  The  Providence  market  appears  to  be  highly  successful. 
This  possibility  should  be  considered,  and  the  matter  should  be  taken  up 
with  local  growers.  If  they  should  not  be  sufficiently  interested,  it  devolves 
upon  the  city  itself  to  furnish  such  a  market  place. 


RECOMMENDATIONS 

I.  All    energy   should   be    concentrated    on   the   establishment    of   a   well 
organized    and    operated    farmers'    wholesale    market.      Such    a    market    is 
absolutely  essential,  and  every  effort  should  be  made  to  secure  definite  action. 

II.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  too  late  at  the  time  this  report  is  made  to  determine 
a  permanent  policy  which  shall  be  effective  during  the  summer  of  1917,  the 
city  should  find  a  temporary  solution  for  the  present  season.     With  this  end 
in  view,  possible  locations  have  been  canvassed,  and  it  has  been  decided  that 
it  would  be  best  to   use  the  present  location   in   Commerce   Street   for  the 
summer  of  1917.     This  location  should  be  laid  off  in  spaces  by  the  city,  and 
assignments  made  to   individual   farmers   at  a   small  rental  per  day  or  per 
season.     A  market  master  should  be  appointed,  regulations  prescribed,  and 
the  necessary  city  ordinances   drawn   up  and  passed   without   delay.     (This 
matter  is  being  attended  to  as  this  report  is  issued,  through  the  cooperation 
of  the  Mayor  of  the  City  and  the  Corporation  Counsel.) 

III.  Steps  should  be  taken  immediately  to  determine  a  permanent  policy, 
which  could  be  put  in  operation  before  the  season  of   1918  opens.     Studies 
should  be  made  of  possible  locations,  probable  costs,  and  necessary  equip- 
ment.    It  would  also  be  advisable  to  make   further   intensive  study  of  the 
methods  of  a  few  other  cities  before  a  permanent  policy  is  adopted. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


SEP  20  1933 
SEP  21  1933 
4  1937 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


Gaylord  Bros. 
Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  Y 

PAT.  JAN.  21 ,1908 


YC  25335 


9150C 


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